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The  Mennonite  Church 


AND 


CURRENT  ISSUES 

I  -■ 

By  Daniel  Kauffman 


❖ 

* 


“Hold  fast  that  which  is  good” 


MENNONITE  PUBLISHING  HOUSE 
Scottdale,  Pa. 


i 

❖ 

* 

* 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  Page 

INTRODUCTORY  5 

I.  CHURCH  HISTORY  10 

II.  MENNONITE  DOCTRINE  18 

-  III.  THE  MENACE  OF  MODERNISM  28 

IV.  DANGERS  CONFRONTING  OUR 

YOUNG  PEOPLE  42 

V.  THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH  66 

VI.  THE  CHRISTIAN  HOME  85 

VII.  OUR  PLACE  IN  THE  MISSION  FIELD  96 

VIII  OUR  PUBLICATION  INTERESTS  108 

IX.  CHURCH  AND  SCHOOL  116 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


i 


https://archive.org/details/mennonitechurchcOOkauf 


INTRODUCTORY 


The  general  spirit  of  unrest,  manifest  among 
the  nations  in  the  form  of  “wars  and  rumors  of 
wars,”  manifest  in  the  industrial  world  in  the  form 
of  strikes  and  litigation,  is  also  reflected  in  the 
disturbances  found  in  the  many  churches.  Wher¬ 
ever  you  find  a  church  having  trouble  of  any  kind, 
the  other  churches,  as  a  rule,  sympathize  with  it 
because  they  have  similar  troubles  within  them¬ 
selves.  Will  this  feeling  of  unrest  subside,  or 
may  we  look  for  greater  trials?  Many  are  pray¬ 
ing  that  the  world  spirit  of  unrest  may  be  healed 
within  the  churches,  that  the  Spirit  of  God  may 
yet  prevail  in  the  hearts  and  lives  of  those  who 
own  His  name,  and  that  the  work  of  bringing  the 
lost  to  Jesus  may  be  unhindered  by  strife  among 
believers. 

Believing  that  our  readers  both  desire  and  de¬ 
serve  a  free  and  frank  discussion  of  the  issues 
before  us  in  the  spirit  of  charity  and  of  truth,  I 
feel  constrained,  after  much  prayer  and  medita¬ 
tion  to  make  the  attempt.  I  have  no  promises  to 
make  as  to  how  well  I  shall  succeed,  leaving  that 
for  the  Lord  and  the  kind  reader  to  judge.  But 
my  experiences  during  the  past  few  decades,  dur¬ 
ing  which  time  I  was  both  a  witness  of  and  a  par¬ 
ticipant  in  many  of  the  things  which  I  here  under¬ 
take  to  discuss,  enable  me  to  speak  from  a  knowl¬ 
edge  of  tarings  I  have  both  seen  and  heard. 


6 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


Our  discussions  will  include  those  thing’s  only 
with  which  the  Mennonite  Church  is  vitally  con¬ 
cerned.  And  let  me  say  right  here  that  just  be¬ 
cause  a  church  is  struggling  is  no  reason  why  it 
should  be  condemned.  The  conflict  with  sin  has 
gone  on  steadily  since  the  fall  of  man.  It  was 
manifest  in  the  days  of  Christ  and  the  apostles, 
and  has  been  in  evidence  ever  since.  When  there¬ 
fore  we  see  a  church  having  a  struggle  or  contest 
of  any  kind,  let  us  not  judge  adversely  until  we 
know  the  nature  of  the  struggle.  Not,  Are  they 
having  trouble?  but,  What  is  the  cause  and  what 
the  nature  of  their  trouble?  must  determine  where 
the  blame  rests.  While  it  is  true  that  “The  wea¬ 
pons  of  our  warfare  are  not  carnal,”  it  is  also  true 
that  we  are  to  “fight  the  good  fight  of  faith that 
while  “the  servant  of  the  Lord  must  not  strive,” 
we  are,  after  all,  to  “contend  earnestly  for  the 
faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints.”  Thank  God 
for  the  struggles  of  the  Christian  Church  in  be¬ 
half  of  righteousness,  godliness,  and  real  salvation. 
Only  let  us  be  sure  that  ours  is  the  conflict  of 
faith  and  our  methods  such  that  Heaven  can  ap¬ 
prove. 

Coming  nearer  to  the  issues  before  us,  let  u£ 
notice  briefly  one  event  which  will  give  the  reader 
some  idea  as  to  the  issues  which  we  as  a  church 
are  facing. 

On  June  18,  1923,  the  Mennonite  Board  of 
Education  held  its  annual  meeting  at  Goshen  Col¬ 
lege.  Because  of  the  situation  in  and  about  this 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


7 


institution  the  Board  had  met  in  special  session 
two  months  previous  to  that  time,  at  which  meet¬ 
ing  the  future  of  Goshen  College  was  discussed 
from  many  angles.  At  the  regular  meeting  the 
same  question  was  again  considered  at  some 
length.  A  motion  was  finally  submitted  that  the 
college  be  suspended  for  one  year,  and  that  an 
administrative  committee  of  five  be  appointed  to 
make  the  necessary  plans  for  the  reopening  of  the 
institution  in  the  fall  of  1924.  This  motion,  after 
some  discussion  and  in  the  light  of  previous  events 
and  discussions,  was  adopted.  Following  is  the 
form  in  which  it  was  passed : 

“Inasmuch  as  the  expression  given  through¬ 
out  the  discussion  of  the  future  of  Goshen  College 
was  to  the  effect  that  we  should  offer  to  the 
Church  and  our  young  people  the  advantages  of 
the  best  at  our  command  in  the  way  of  educa¬ 
tional  facilities,  and  since  the  conditions  are  such 
as  to  make  it  impractical  to  provide  for  the  same 
for  the  coming  year,  be  it 

“Resolved,  that  an  administrative  committee 
of  five  members  be  appionted  whose  duties  it  shall 
be  to  make  plans  for  an  official  organization, 
faculty,  finances,  student  canvass,  and  the  giving 
of  general  information  to  the  Church;  and  in 
connection  with  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
Board  provide  for  the  opening  of  Goshen  College 
regularly  in  the  fall  of  1924,  and,  if  advisable, 
arrange  for  a  summer  term  previous.” 

This  action,  interpreted,  means : 

1.  That  Goshen  College  will  remain  closed 
during  the  school  year  of  1923-24. 


8 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


2.  That  in  the  meantime  the  administrative 
committee  will  work  according  to  directions  by 
the  Board. 

3.  That  Goshen  College  is  to  be  reopened  in 
September,  1924;  that  its  state  and  standing  will 
depend  upon  how  heartily  the  Board  is  supported 
by  the  Church,  especially  that  part  of  it  located  in 
the  Middle  West. 

But  this  action  of  the  Board,  in  itself,  would 
not  be  considered  of  extraordinary  importance 
were  it  not  for  the  general  conditions  facing  the 
Board  which  made  such  action  necessary.  It  is 
generally  conceded  on  every  hand  that  the  Board 
would  have  had  comparatively  small  difficulties  in 
going  ahead  without  interruption  had  there  been 
only  strictly  educational  problems  to  consider. 
But  because  of  other  and  underlying  issues  (to  be 
considered  in  later  chapters)  the  Board  felt  that 
the  course  it  took  was  the  only  practical  thing  to 
do. 

The  results  of  this  action  on  the  part  of  the 
Board,  working  in  cooperation  with  the  rest  of 
the  Church  in  facing  current  issues,  will  be  more 
clear  in  the  light  of  coming  events.  The  forces 
at  work  in  the  solution  of  our  educational  prob¬ 
lems  are  slso  confronted  with  interrelated  prob¬ 
lems,  and  let  us  hope  that  by  the  time  of  the  re¬ 
opening  of  Goshen  College  these  problems  will 
have  been  satisfactorily  adjusted.  The  question 
of  the  future  of  this  institution  is  but  one  phase 
of  the  general  educational  problem,  and  this  in 
turn  is  but  a  part  of  the  general  problem  of  the 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


9 


Church  the  solution  of  which  will  determine  the 
future  status  and  work  of  the  Mennonite  Church. 
The  doctrinal  standards  and  ideals  of  the  Church 
are  among  the  things  to  be  determined  by  the 
.  proper  or  improper  solution  of  the  problems  be¬ 
fore  us. 

The  reader  will  recognize  at  once  that  the 
issues  confronting  the  Christian  churches  today 
are  more  far-reaching  than  the  mere  question  as 
to  what  will  become  of  our  schools.  While  the 
one  is  important, .  it  is  but  a  small  item  in  the 
general  issue.  May  we  therefore  give  prayerful 
consideration  to  the  things  brought  out  in  the 
succeeding  chapters. 


CHURCH  HISTORY 


Jesus  Christ,  Author  of  our  eternal  salvation, 
Head  of  the  Christian  Church,  just  previous  to  His 
ascension,  delivered  to  His  followers  the  following 
Great  Commission : 

“All  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in 
earth.  Go  ye  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations,  bap¬ 
tizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost:  teaching  them  to  ob¬ 
serve  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you: 
and,  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of 
the  world.” 

After  this  He  ascended  to  glory.  The  disci¬ 
ples,  assured  by  the  two  men  in  white  apparel  that 
He  was  coming  again,  returned  to  Jerusalem  and 
there  continued  in  prayer  and  preparation  until 
they  were  endued  with  power  from  on  high.  By 
common  consent  this  Pentecostal  experience  was 
the  beginning  of  the  history  of  the  Christian 
Church,  the  Church  of  the  present  dispensation. 

The  growth  of  the  early  Church  was  very 
rapid.  By  comparing  I  Cor.  15  :6  (where  the  risen 
Lord  was  seen  by  more  than  “five  hundred  breth¬ 
ren”)  with  Acts  2:41-47;  4:4  (which  gives  us 
some  idea  of  the  growth  and  size  of  the  Church 
soon  after  Pentecost),  we  conclude  that  the  num¬ 
ber  of  disciples  before  Pentecost  must  have  been 
but  slightly  in  excess  of  five  hundred.  At  the 
close  of  the  first  century  the  Church  is  said  to 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


11 


have  numbered  about  500,000  members,  and  per¬ 
haps  about  four  times  that  number  at  the  close 
of  the  second  century.  The  Gospel  was  carried 
into  Samaria,  Asia  Minor,  Europe,  and  northern 
Africa.  Within  three  centuries  after  the  cruci¬ 
fixion  of  our  Lord  the  Roman  emperor,  Constan¬ 
tine,  had  made  Christianity  the  religion  of  state. 

Before  this  time,  however,  most  of  the  church¬ 
es  had  begun  to  drift  away  from  the  purity  of  the 
Gospel.  As  the  Church  of  Rome  grew  in  power 
and  popularity  it  grew  more  worldly  in  its  stand¬ 
ards  of  life,  making  wider  the  chasm  between  it 
and  evangelical  bodies  whose  burden  it  was  to 
maintain  the  faith  and  order  of  the  Church  in  its 
primitive  purity  and  spiritual  power.  Henceforth 
we  look  for  the  real  standard  of  Christian  life  and 
faith  among  these  evangelical  bodies,  known  at 
different  times  and  in  different  countries  under  the 
various  names  of  Novatians,  Catharists,  Paulicans, 
Albigenses,  Waldensians,  etc. — the  flames  of  true 
evangelical  faith  bursting  forth  anew  in  the  trying 
times  of  the  Reformation. 

One  would  think  that  when  Christianity  be¬ 
came  the  state  religion  in  Rome  the  empire  would 
at  once  show  signs  of  spiritual  revival  and  prog¬ 
ress  in  civilization  and  virtue.  But  the  reverse  is 
true.  Instead  of  the  Church  succeeding  in  elevat¬ 
ing  Rome,  Rome  succeeded  in  completing  the  cor¬ 
ruption  of  the  Romish  Church.  For  over  a  thous¬ 
and  years,  beginning  soon  after  the  absorption  of 
the  body  of  churches  by  Rome,  there  was  a  condi- 


12 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


tion  of  affairs  in  Europe  known  to  the  student  of 
history  as  the  “dark  ages.”  But  this  very  corrup¬ 
tion  was  made  the  means  in  God’s  hands  of  bring¬ 
ing  about  an  awakening  in  the  fourteenth  and  fif¬ 
teenth  centuries  which  ushered  in  a  new  era  in  the 
religious  history  of  Europe.  Partly  because  of  the 
lives  and  teachings  of  Waldensians  and  other  evan¬ 
gelical  bodies,  and  partly  because  of  the  shameless 
practices  of  influential  men  in  the  Catholic  Church, 
a  fire  was  started  which  to  a  large  extent  broke 
the  power  and  sway  of  Romanism.  First  among 
the  noted  reformers  was  John  Wycliffe  of  Eng¬ 
land,  who  lived  in  the  fourteenth  century  and 
whose  effective  work  won  for  him  the  title,  “Morn¬ 
ing  star  of  the  Reformation.”  Then  followed  John 
Huss  of  Bohemia,  whose  fearless  exposition  of 
truth  and  righteousness  brought  upon  him  the 
wrath  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  he  was 
burned  at  the  stake.  Later  on  Luther  in  Germany, 
Calvin  in  France,  Zwingli  in  Switzerland,  Knox  in 
Scotland,  Conrad  Grebel  in  Switzerland,  and  Men- 
no  Simons  in  Holland  rose  to  heights  of  influence 
and  power,  so  that  by  the  close  of  the  sixteenth 
century  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  was  swept 
from  power  in  most  of  the  countries  in  Europe. 

In  1525  a  congregation  was  organized  in  Zu¬ 
rich,  Switzerland,  which  proved  to  be  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  what  is  now  known  as  the  Mennonite 
Church.  Foremost  in  this  organization  were  men 
like  Conrad  Grebel,  Felix  Mans,  George  Blaurock, 
and  others  who  held  truth  more  dear  than  life. 
They  were  called  “Anabaptists,”  partly  because 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


13 


they  insisted  on  rebaptizing  all  converts  who  had 
not  already  been  baptized  upon  confession  of  their 
faith.  The  Anabaptist  sects  became  quite  numer¬ 
ous,  many  of  them  holding  nothing  in  common 
with  the  Church  to  which  Grebel  and  Blaurock 
belonged  save  their  views  on  baptism.  The  move¬ 
ment  spread  rapidly,  and  a  few  years  later  claimed 
among  its  adherents  some  of  the  ablest  men  in 
Switzerland,  northern  Germany,  and  Holland,  a- 
mong  whom  may  be  named  such  men  as  Diedrich 
Philips,  Obbe  Philips,  Menno  Simons,  and  others. 
The  most  prominent  among  these  was  Menno  Si¬ 
mons.  Because  of  his  active  work  and  great  or¬ 
ganizing  ability  the  adherents  of  the  faith  were 
by  their  opponents  called  “Mennonites,”  a  name 
which  the  Church  has  borne  ever  since.  But  these 
brethren  did  not  at  once  own  the  name.  In  fact, 
in  Holland,  Menno’s  home  country  and  the  scene 
of  his  greatest  activities,  the  Church  to  this  day 
is  known  by  the  name  of  “Doopgesinnte.”  Grad¬ 
ually,  however,  the  name  “Anabaptist”  was  heard 
with  less  frequency  until  today  the  Church  wher¬ 
ever  known  is  called  by  the  name  which  its  en¬ 
emies  gave  it.  But  the  members  are  not  so  partic-? 
ular  about  the  name  as  they  are  about  the  stand¬ 
ards  of  faith  and  life  for  which  the  name  stands. 

The  Mennonite  Church  faced  some  of  the  se¬ 
verest  persecutions  known  in  history.  Thousands 
died  at  the  stake.  Thousands  more  spent  much  of 
their  lives  in  an  effort  to  escape  from  the  hands  of 
the  persecutor,  seeking  places  where  they  might 
worship  God  unmolested  and  in  a  way  which  they 


14 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


believed  the  Bible  taught.  Protestants  tried  to 
exterminate  them,  because  they  refused  to  make 
common  cause  with  Protestants  against  Catholics. 
Catholics  tried  to  exterminate  them,  because  they 
refused  to  acknowledge  themselves  members  of 
“the  holy  Catholic  Church/’  Acknowledging  su¬ 
preme  obedience  to  God,  being  nonresistant  in  let¬ 
ter  and  in  spirit,  driven  about  from  place  to  place, 
they  were  indeed  “strangers  and  pilgrims  in  the 
earth,”  “lambs  in  the  midst  of  wolves.”  Being 
driven  about  from  country  to  country,  enjoying 
brief  seasons  of  rest  from  the  hands  of  the  perse¬ 
cutor,  their  sufferings  were  finally  lessened  through 
growing  leniency  shown  them  in  certain  European 
countries,  notably  Russia  and  Holland,  while  many 
of  them  accepted  the  invitation  of  the  peaceful 
Penn  to  come  to  America  and  find  an  asylum  of 
rest  and  worship  there. 

In  1683  the  first  permanent  settlement  of 
Mennonites  was  made  in  America.  This  was  at 
Germantown,  Pennsylvania,  now  a  part  of  Phila¬ 
delphia.  Soon  other  groups  of  members  followed, 
and  settlements  were  made  in  the  vicinity  of  Skip- 
pack,  Line  Lexington,  and  other  places  in  south¬ 
eastern  Pennsylvania.  About  the  year  1700  a  set¬ 
tlement  of  Swiss  Mennonites,  severed  from  the 
main  body  of  Mennonites  in  Europe  about  the 
year  1692,  also  found  homes  in  eastern  Pennsyl¬ 
vania  early  in  the  seventeenth  century.  From  this 
part  of  the  state  emigrants  traveled  westward,, 
crossed  the  Alleghenies,  and  settled  in  western 
Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  and,  later  on,  in  states  farther 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


15 


west.  Some  traveled  southward  and  formed  set¬ 
tlements  in  the  Cumberland  Valley  of  Pennsyl¬ 
vania  and  in  Maryland  and  Virginia.  Still  others, 
soon  after  the  Revolutionary  War,  traveled  north¬ 
ward  and  formed  settlements  in  western  New 
York  and  Canada.  Thus  it  is  that,  outside  a  few 
settlements  in  Ohio  and  Illinois,  and,  later  on,  the 
settlements  of  Russian  Mennonites  in  Kansas, 
Nebraska,  Manitoba,  and  other  states  and  prov¬ 
inces,  there  were  practically  no  settlements  of 
Mennonites  made  in  America  that  had  not  pre¬ 
viously  been  started  by  emigrants  from  eastern 
Pennsylvania  or  the  descendants  of  such  emi¬ 
grants. 

One  of  the  strong  features  in  Mennonite  doc¬ 
trine  and  polity  is  that  of  holding  fast  the  pure 
Word  of  God,  of  making  this  the  basis  of  all  doc¬ 
trine,  rules  of  life,  and  discipline,  and  of  aversion 
to  tolerating  any  form  of  sin  in  the  Church.  Com¬ 
mendable  as  this  is,  it  has  also  been  made  the 
means  of  causing  divisions  among  the  body  of 
members.  Nine-tenths  of  the  divisions  noted,  ei¬ 
ther  congregational  or  church-wide,  owe  their  ori¬ 
gin  to  the  fact  that  some  member  or  members 
were  not  willing  to  submit  to  the  discipline  of 
the  Church  and  the  Church  was  not  willing  to 
modify  its  discipline.  As  a  result,  we  have  here 
in  America  more  than  a  dozen  different  churches 
holding  on  to  some  form  of  the  word  “Mennonite.” 
Out  of  a  total  membership  of  about  75,000  in  A- 
merica,  about  one-half  hold  to  “The  Mennonite 
Church,”  the  main  body  of  Mennonites  in  Amer- 


16 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


ica  having  a  continuous  organization  in  America 
since  the  organization  of  the  first  congregation  at 
Germantown.  The  next  strongest  is  “The  General 
Conference  of  Mennonites  of  North  America,”  be¬ 
ing  a  union  of  “Oberholtzer”  Mennonites  in  east¬ 
ern  Pennsylvania  (named  after  J.  H.  Oberholtzer, 
who  withdrew  from  the  Franconia  Conference 
about  the  year  1847)  and  a  number  of  congrega¬ 
tions  of  Swiss  Mennonites  in  Iowa  and  Illinois 
and  later  reinforced  bv  Russian  Mennonites  who 

w 

came  to  America  during  the  past  fifty  years.  Next 
in  point  of  numbers  is  the  branch  called  Amish 
Mennonites  (having  among  them  several  branch¬ 
es),  following  which  in  point  of  numerical  strength 
are  the  Mennonite  Brethren  in  Christ,  Bruederge- 
meinde,  and  others. 

We  all  regret  these  many  divisions — and 
many  are  the  prayers  that,  under  the  providence 
of  God,  we  may  yet  see  the  day  when  all  people 
bearing  the  name  Mennonite,  with  others,  may  be 
united  in  the  same  faith  and  same  communion,  and 
rejoice  in  a  common  fellowship  with  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost. 

The  main  body  of  Mennonites,  being  a  con¬ 
tinuation  of  the  organization  of  Mennonites  at 
Germantown,  Pa.,  more  than  two  centuries  ago, 
is  still  officially  known  as  “The  Mennonite  Church.” 
It  consists  of  about  40,000  members,  having  thir¬ 
teen  conferences  in  the  United  States,  two  in  Can¬ 
ada,  one  in  India,  and  one  in  South  America.  It 
is  this  body  of  people  that  we  have  under  consid- 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


17 


eration  in  the  chapters  succeeding.  Whenever 
any  other  body  of  Mennonites  is  named,  it  will  be 
referred  to  by  its  official  title. 


MENNONITE  DOCTRINE 


The  preceding  chapter  answers  the  question, 
Who  are  the  Mennonites?  This  chapter  is  written 
in  answer  to  the  question,  What  do  Mennonites 
believe? 

No  church  has  a  right  to  exist  as  a  separate 
denomination  unless  there  is  sufficient  scriptural 
ground  for  its  separate  existence.  There  is  no  jus¬ 
tifiable  ground  for  separate  existence  for  any 
church,  unless  its  doctrinal  views  are  so  decidedly 
different  from  those  of  other  churches  that  an  at¬ 
tempted  unity  between  them  would  be  a  misnomer, 
or  unless  the  members  of  the  several  churches  could 
not  conscientiously  fellowship  together  in  the 
same  communion.  If  they  can  conscientiously 
commune  together,  there  is  no  lawful  scriptural 
reason  for  a  separate  existence. 

In  the  light  of  these  facts,  we  consider  it  im¬ 
portant  to  examine,  for  a  little  while,  the  doctrinal 
ground,  the  “creed/’  of  the  Mennonite  Church. 

Evangelical  Faith 

The  Mennonites,  in  common  with  all  other 
adherents  of  the  evangelical  faith,  believe : 

*1.  That  there  is  but  one  God,  eternal,  infinite, 
perfect,  unchangeable,  Who  exists  and  reveals 
Himself  in  three  distinct  persons — Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost.  Deut.  6:4;  Psa.  90:2;  147:5; 

*From  a  statement  on  “Christian  Fundamentals,”  adopt¬ 
ed  by  the  Mennonite  Conference  at  Sycamore  Church 
near  Garden  City,  Mo.,  Aug.  25,  1921. 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


19 


139:7-12;  Gen.  1:2,18;  17:1;  Isa.  40:28;  57:15; 
Mai.  3:6;  Heb.  1:8. 

2.  That  the  Genesis  account  of  the  creation 
is  a  historic  fact  and  literally  true.  Gen.  1:1,21, 
27;  Ex.  20:11;  Mark  10:6-9;  Heb.  1:10;  4:4;  11:3. 

3.  In  the  plenary  and  verbal  inspiration  of 
the  Bible  as  God’s  Word;  that  it  is  authentic  in 
its  matter,  authoritative  in  its  counsels,  inerrant 
in  the  original  writings,  and  the  only  infallible 
rule  in  faith  and  practice.  Ex.  4:12;  II  Sam.  23:2; 
Psa.  12:6;  119:160;  Jer.  1:9;  Matt.  5:18;  24:35; 
II  Tim.  3:16;  II  Pet.  1:20,21. 

4.  That  man  was  created  by  the  immediate 
act  of  God,  in  His  own  image  and  after  His  own 
likeness;  that  by  one  act  of  disobedience  he  be¬ 
came  sinful  in  his  nature,  spiritually  dead,  subject 
to  physical  death  and  to  the  power  of  the  devil, 
from  which  fallen  condition  he  was  unable  to  save 
himself.  Gen.  1:26,27  ;  2:7, 16,  17;  3:1-7;  Eph.  2: 
1-3,  12;  Jno.  6:44;  Rom.  5:6. 

5.  That  Jesus  Christ  is  the  eternal  Son  of 
God;  that  He  was  conceived  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
and  born  of  a  virgin — the  perfect  God-man;  that 
He  was  without  sin,  the  divinely  appointed  substi¬ 
tute  and  representative  of  sinful  man,  paying  the 
penalty  for  man’s  sins  upon  the  cross,  making  the 
only  adequate  atonement  for  sin  by  the  shedding 
of  His  blood,  thus  reconciling  man  to  God ;  that 
He  was  raised  from  the  dead,  ascended  to  glory, 
and  “ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  us.”  Jno. 
1:1,14,18;  Heb.  1:8;  6:20;  7:25;  13:8;  Gen.  3:15; 


20 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


Isa.  7:14;  53  :5,  6 ;  Luke  1 :35  ;  Matt.  1 :20-25  ;  II  Cor. 
5:14,21;  Gal.  3:13;  I  Pet.  2:22,24;  3:18;  Rom.  5: 

8-10;  Matt.  28:6;  Acts  3:24;  8:11;  10:39-41;  17:31; 
I  Cor.  5:20;  15:20;  Rev.  1:18;  Col.  3:1;  I  Jno.  2:1, 
2. 

6.  That  man  is  saved  alone  by  grace  through 
faith  in  the  finished  work  of  Christ;  that  he  is  jus¬ 
tified  from  all  things  on  the  ground  of  His  shed 
blood ;  that  through  the  new  birth  he  becomes  a 
child  of  God,  partaker  of  eternal  life  and  blessed 
with  all  spiritual  blessings  in  Christ.  Eph.  1 :3 ; 
2:8;  Jno.  1:12,13;  3:4,8,16;  Acts  13:38,39;  Rom. 
3  :20-26. 

7.  In  the  deity  and  personality  of  the  Holy 
Spirit;  that  He  convinces  the  world  of  sin,  of 
righteousness,  and  of  judgment;  that  He  indwells 
and  comforts  the  believer,  guides  him  into  all 
truth,  empowers  for  service  and  enables  him  to 
live  a  life  of  righteousness.  Acts  1:8;  5:3,4;  Jno. 
16 :7,  8,  13  ;  Rom.  8  :l-4 ;  I  Cor.  3  :16 ;  II  Cor.  3  :3,  17 ; 
Gal.  4:6. 

8.  That  it  is  the  privilege  of  all  believers  to 
know  that  they  have  passed  from  death  unto  life ; 
that  God  is  able  to  keep  them  from  falling,  but 
that  the  obedience  of  faith  is  essential  to  the  main¬ 
tenance  of  one’s  salvation  and  growth  in  grace. 
I  Jno.  3:14;  5:13;  Jno.  8:31,32;  Rom.  1:5;  8:16; 
16:25,26;  II  Cor.  12:9;  Gal.  3:11;  II  Pet.  1:5-11; 
Jude  24,25. 

9.  That  the  Church  is  the  body  of  Christ, 
composed  of  all  those  who,  through  repentance 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


21 


toward  God  and  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
have  been  born  again  and  baptized  by  one  Spirit 
into  one  body,  and  that  it  is  her  divinely  appointed 
mission  to  “preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,” 
teaching  obedience  to  all  His  commandments. 
Matt.  16:18;  28:19, 20;  Mark  16:15;  Acts  1:8;  16: 
31;  17:30;  20:21;  Luke  24:47;  I  Cor.  12:13;  GaL 
3:26;  Eph.  1:23. 

10.  In  the  bodily  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ 
and  in  the  bodily  resurrection  of  all  men,  both  of 
the  just  and  the  unjust — of  the  just  to  the  resur¬ 
rection  of  life,  and  of  the  unjust  to  the  resurrection 
of  condemnation.  Luke  24:30,31;  Jno.  5:28,29; 
20:20,24-29;  Acts  24:15;  I  Cor.  15:20-23,42-44. 

11.  In  the  second  coming  of  our  Lord  as  the 
blessed  hope  of  the  believer ;  that  we  who  are 
alive  and  remain,  together  with  the  dead  in  Christ 
who  will  first  be  raised,  shall  be  caught  up  to 
meet  the  Lord  in  the  air  and  thus  be  ever  with  the 
Lord.  Matt.  24:44;  Jno.  14:2,3;  Acts  1:11;  I  Thes. 
4:13-18;  Tit.  2:11-14;  Heb.  10:37. 

12.  That  hell  is  the  place  of  torment,  pre¬ 
pared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels,  where  with 
them  the  wicked  will  suffer  the  vengeance  of 
eternal  fire  forever  and  ever — and  that  heaven  is 
the  final  abode  of  the  righteous,  where  they  will 
dwell  in  the  fulness  of  joy  forever  and  ever.  Matt. 
25:41,46;  II  Cor.  5:21;  Jude  7;  Rev.  14:8-11;  20: 
10,15;  21:3-8;  22:1-5. 

13.  That  baptism  should  be  administered  to 
penitent  believers  who  are  applicants  for  admis- 


22 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


sion  into  the  visible  Church.  Matt.  28 :19, 20 ; 
Acts  2:37-41;  8:37;  10:47;  19:1-5. 

14.  That  the  communion,  as  a  sacred  ordin¬ 
ance,  should  be  literally  observed  by  all  believers. 
Luke  22:19,20;  I  Cor.  10:16;  11:23-26. 

15.  That  marriage  was  divinely  instituted  for 
the  propagation,  purity,  and  happiness  of  the  hu¬ 
man  race  and  the  sanctity  of  the  home,  and  that 
it  receives  divine  sanction  between  one  man  and 
one  woman  only.  Gen.  2:23,24;  Matt.  19:3-6; 
Heb.  13:4. 

16.  That  the  miracles  of  the  Bible  are  matter 
of  fact  statements  and  literally  true.  Matt.  12  :40 ; 
Acts  1 :3. 

17.  That  God  has  made  provision  for  the  or¬ 
ganization,  government  and  perpetuation  of  His 
visible  Church;  that  He  has  given  her  authority 
(through  the  Holy  Spirit)  to  interpret  Scripture, 
choose  needed  officials,  discipline  members,  and 
establish  institutions  to  accomplish  the  work  com¬ 
mitted  unto  her ;  that  every  member  should  loyally 
support  the  Church  by  a  willing  obedience  and 
ready  service.  Matt.  18:15,18;  Eph.  4:11,16;  Heb. 
13:17. 

18.  That  God’s  people  should  be  pure,  holy, 
devout,  reverent,  not  yielding  to  the  lusts  of  the 
flesh ;  that  therefore,  vulgar  conversation,  secret 
vice,  and  other  improper  and  sinful  conduct  which 
gives  rise  to  social  evils  are  entirely  outside  the 
realm  of  Christian  living.  II  Cor.  7:1;  Gal.  5:19-21; 
IJno.  3:3. 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


23 


19.  That  the  disciples  of  Christ  in  every  gen¬ 
eration  of  the  Christian  era,  are  commissioned  to 
make  Christ  and  His  Gospel  known  to  all  people, 
teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  which  He  has 
commanded  His  followers  to  do.  Matt.  28:18-20; 
Mark  16:15;  Luke  24:46,47;  Acts  1:8. 

Distinctive  Doctrines 

The  Mennonites,  in  common  with  some 
churches  and  unlike  other  churches,  also  believe : 

1.  That  the  whole  Bible  is  literally  true,  and 
that  all  the  commandments  of  Christ  to  His  peo¬ 
ple,  as  recorded  in  the  gospels  and  epistles,  should 
be  literally  obeyed  by  all  believers.  Matt.  28:18- 
20;  Jno.  14 :15 ;  15  :14 ;  Rom.  16 :16, 17 ;  I  Jno.  2 :2-4. 

2.  That  penitent  believers  are  admitted  into 
the  visible  Church  by  water  baptism,  even  as  they 
are  admitted  into  the  invisible  Church  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  baptism;  that  baptism  should  be  ad¬ 
ministered  only  upon  confession  of  faith  and  upon 
evidence  of  genuine  repentance  and  conversion 
(Matt.  3  :7,  8 ;  Acts  2 :36-41 ;  8 :36,  37 ;  16 :25-34) ; 
and  that,  being  the  symbol  of  Spirit  baptism  which 
is  always  referred  to  as  an  affusion,  it  should  be 
administered  in  the  same  way  (Joel  2:28;  Acts 
1:5;  2:1-17;  10:44-48;  11:15,16;  Psa.  77:17-21; 
I  Cor.  10:1,2;  I  Jno.  5:7,8). 

3.  That  Christ  instituted  the  communion  as 
a  memorial  of  His  suffering  and  death,  and  that 
it  should  be  observed  as  such  by  all  believers; 
that  only  such  who  are  of  like  faith  and  are  at 


24 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


peace  with  God  and  man  should  participate.  Luke 
22:19,20;  I  Cor.  10:16,17;  11:23-26. 

4.  That  the  washing  of  the  saints’  feet  is  a 
Christian  ordinance  which  should  be  literally  ob- 

«F 

served  by  all  believers.  Jno.  13:1-17. 

5.  That  the  Christian  woman,  especially  dur¬ 
ing  times  of  worship  and  Christian  service,  should 
have  her  head  covered  or  veiled  according  to 
I  Cor.  11:2-16. 

6.  That  the  salutation  of  the  holy  kiss  should 
be  observed  among  all  believers.  Rom.  16:16; 
I  Cor.  16:20;  II  Cor.  13:12;  I  Thess.  5:26;  I  Pet. 
5:14. 

7.  That  the  anointing  with  oil  should  be  ad¬ 
ministered  to  the  sick  who  call  for  it  in  faith.  Jas. 
5:14,  15;  Mark  6:13. 

8.  That  marriage  being  indissoluble  except 
by  death,  it  is  unscriptural  for  any  one  to  be  united 
in  marriage  to  a  divorced  person  having  a  former 
companion  living  (Gen.  2:18;  Mark  10:2-12;  Rom. 
7  :2)  ;  neither  is  it  scriptural  for  a  believer  to  marry 
an  unbeliever.  Deut.  7:3;  Ezra  9:2;  Neh.  13:23-27; 
I  Cor.  7 :39. 

9.  That  the  Church  and  the  world  are  two 
separate  and  distinct  bodies;  with  standards,  aims, 
tastes,  and  attachments  essentially  different.  For 
church  members,  therefore,  to  be  conformed  to 
this  world  is  both  disloyal  to  God  and  sinful  in 
His  sight.  Jno.  18:36;  Rom.  12:1,2;  II  Cor.  6:14- 
18;  I  Jno.  2:15,  16. 

10.  That  Christian  people  should  be  clothed 
in  modest  apparel;  that  the  wearing  of  jewelry, 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


25 


costly  array,  fashionable  attire,  and  bodily  orna¬ 
mentation  generally  should  be  scrupulously  avoid¬ 
ed  by  believers.  Isa.  3:16-24;  Matt.  3:5,6;  I  Tim. 
2:9,  10;  I  Pet.  3:3,4. 

11.  That  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  Gospel 
are  decidedly  against  strife,  contention,  and  car¬ 
nal  warfare;  and  that  therefore  no  believer  should 
have  any  part  in  carnal  strife  or  warfare,  whether 
among  individuals,  in  suits  at  law,  or  in  conflicts 
among  nations.  Matt.  5:38-45;  Rom.  12:17-21; 
I  Cor.  6:1-8;  II  Cor.  10:4. 

12.  That  there  should  be  a  complete  separa¬ 
tion  between  Church  and  State;  that,  though  “pil¬ 
grims  and  strangers  in  the  earth,”  we  should  be 
“subject  unto  the  higher  powers,”  submitting  our¬ 
selves  “to  overy  ordinance  of  man  for  the  Lord’s 
sake,”  remembering  that  we  owe  our  first  and 
highest  allegiance  to  God.  Jno.  18:36;  Acts  5:29; 
Rom.  13:1-5;  Heb.  11:13. 

13.  That  under  the  Gospel  dispensation  the 
swearing  of  oaths,  for  any  purpose  and  under  all 
circumstances,  is  forbidden.  Matt.  5  :34 -37 ;  Jas. 
5:12. 

14.  That  Christian  people  should  have  no 
part  in  secret,  oathbound  organizations.  Since 
labor  unions  and  fraternal  organizations  partake 
of  the  same  features  they  should  be  considered  in 
the  same  light.  Jno.  18:20;  II  Cor.  6:14-18;  Eph. 
5:11,  12. 

15.  That  life  insurance  for  the  welfare  and 
protection  of  God’s  people  is  contrary  to  the  will 


26 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


and  Word  of  God.  Psa.  118:8;  Jer.  49:11;  Matt. 
6:31-34;  I  Tim.  5:8;  Heb.  13:5. 

In  connection  with  the  above  named  tenets  of 
faith  it  might  be  said  that  there  are  individual 
Mennonites  (probably  have  been  in  all  generations 
since  the  Mennonite  Church  was  organized)  who 
would  reject  some  of  them,  but  speaking  of  the 
body  of  Mennonites  as  a  whole,  if  a  complete  con¬ 
fession  of  faith  were  written  today  these  points 
would  all  be  included.  That  they  form  an  essen¬ 
tial  part  of  Mennonite  doctrine  is  evident  when 
we  study  the  literature  of  our  forefathers,  the  rec¬ 
ord  of  our  conferences,  and  the  sermons  of  our 
preachers  today. 

We  call  this  “Mennonite  doctrine.”  In  real¬ 
ity,  it  is  Bible  doctrine,  for  they  are  all  taught  in 
the  Word  of  God — not  one  of  them  that  is  not 
backed  up  by  plainly  worded  scriptures.  If  any 
one  doubts  this  point,  let  him  look  up  the  refer¬ 
ences  given. 

Another  thought  in  connection  with  the  points 
of  faith  noted  in  this  chapter  is  that  there  is  not 
one  of  them,  if  obeyed  from  the  heart  and  kept  in 
the  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  but  that  will  make  a  posi¬ 
tive  contribution  to  Christian  life  and  character. 
They  were  all  conceived  in  divine  wisdom,  and 
there  is  not  one  of  them  that  should  not  be  obeyed 
with  gladness — and  in  so  doing  we  will  find  that 
not  only  “his  commandments  are  not  grievous”  but 
they  are  a  positive  help  in  making  us  stronger  in 
the  grace  of  God  and  safeguard  us  against  many 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


27 


a  snare  and  temptation.  In  conclusion,  may  we 
hear  this  message  by  the  pen  of  Paul:  “Take  heed 
unto  thyself,  and  unto  the  doctrine;  continue  in 
them :  for  in  doing  this  thou  shalt  both  save  thy 
self,  and  them  that  hear  thee.” 


THE  MENACE  OF  MODERNISM 


The  Christian  Church  is  facing  a  crisis.  A 
generation  ago  people  were  divided  into  two  class¬ 
es — believers  and  unbelievers.  The  former  class, 
generally,  either  held  membership  in  some  church 
or  actively  sympathized  with  what  the  Church 
stands  for.  The  latter  class,  almost  without  ex¬ 
ception,  consisted  of  people  who  were  not  only 
no  church  members  but  active  church  fighters. 
There  were  numerous  schools  of  thought  in  each 
of  these  two  classes.  One  has  only  to  think  over 
the  catalogue  of  churches  to  be  convinced  that 
there  were  differences  of  opinion  among  believers, 
and  a  similar  difference  could  be  found  among 
unbelievers  who  differed  widely  among  themselves 
on  many  points.  But  there  was  one  distinct  line 
of  cleavage  between  the  two  classes.  The  first 
class  acknowledged  without  question  the  authority 
and  infallibility  of  Scripture,  and  the  second  class 
as  stoutly  stood  against  this  doctrine. 

Today  this  situation  is  changed.  Many  of  the 
things  formerly  taught  by  Voltaire,  Paine,  Darwin, 
Owen,  Hume,  Ingersoll,  and  others,  and  still  ear¬ 
lier  taught  by  opponents  of  Christianity  from  the 
days  of  the  gnostics  in  apostolic  times,  down 
through  the  centuries,  are  being  shamelessly  pro¬ 
pagated  in  leading  universities  and  theological 
seminaries  and  handed  out  from  the  pulpit  by 
eminent  divines  and  labeled  “Christianity.”  And 
whether  you  call  these  heresies  “Unitarianism,” 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


29 


“New  Theology,”  “New  Thought,”  “Reorganized 
Theology,”  “The  Evolutionary  Hypothesis,”  “Ag¬ 
nosticism,”  “Free  Thought,”  “Destructive  Criti¬ 
cism,”  “Modernism,”  or  designate  them  by  some 
other  name,  we  understand  that  these  are  but  so 
many  different  varieties  of  unbelief,  members  of 
the  school  of  modern  skeptics,  widely  differing  in 
many  of  their  views  yet  all  agreeing  that  the  old- 
fashioned  Christianity  has  served  its  day,  and  u- 
nanimously  lined  up  in  opposition  to  the  orthodox 
Christian  faith. 

The  battle  between  the  adherents  of  the  old 
faith  and  those  of  the  new  theology  is  becoming 
warmer  as  the  designs  of  the  enemies  of  the  Bible 
are  becoming  more  evident.  It  is  becoming  in¬ 
creasingly  clear  that  Modernism  is  throwing  off 
its  mask  (in  part)  and  means  to  capture  the  entire 
Christian  Church  for  a  Christless  Christianity.  The 
fundamentals  of  the  Christian  faith — such  as  the 
verbal  inspiration  of  Scripture,  the  authenticity 
and  authority  of  the  Bible  as  God’s  Word,  the 
deity  and  virgin  birth  of  Christ  and  atonement 
for  sin  through  the  shedding  of  His  blood,  the  fu¬ 
ture  punishment  of  the  wicked  as  well  as  the  fu¬ 
ture  glory  of  the  righteous,  etc.,  etc. — are  being 
ridiculed  and  opposed  with  ever-increasing  bold¬ 
ness  and  by  ever-increasing  numbers.  This  op¬ 
position  is  coming  more  and  more  into  the  open, 
and  its  champions  are  boldly  claiming  a  monopoly 
on  all  that  goes  by  the  name  of  scholarship,  brains, 
reason,  intelligence,  and  propose  to  capture  the 
Church  for — what  was  formerly  known  as  “infi- 


30 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


delity.”  Believers  in  orthodoxy  have  their  choice 
between  two  alternatives :  either  to  abandon  the 
truth  to  its  foes  and  withdraw  to  become  a  little 
body  to  themselves  while  forces  of  unbelief  cap¬ 
ture  and  shepherd  the  masses,  or  rise  in  their 
Christian  privileges,  ‘'make  full  proof  of  their  min¬ 
istry,”  defend  and  promulgate  the  living  Word, 
and  turn  the  light  upon  the  enemies  of  the  Gospel 
of  Christ. 

A  few  illustrations  will  suffice  to  show  what 
we  are  facing: 

In  a  notable  gathering  there  were  those  who 
boldly  proclaimed  their  belief  that  the  old  theology 
had  outlived  its  usefulness  and  that  we  needed  a 
new  order  of  affairs,  a  new  message,  better  suited 
to  our  time.  In  the  audience  was  one  who  refused 
to  be  carried  away  with  such  heresy.  He  arose, 
read  from  a  certain  book  the  views  of  a  writer  who 
upheld  the  very  theories  they  were  so  eloquently 
proclaiming,  and  then  added,  “Does  that  express 
your  views  on  these  doctrines?”  “That  expresses 
our  views  exactly,”  came  from  a  chorus  of  voices. 
“Gentlemen,”  said  this  man  of  faith,  “I  am  read¬ 
ing  from  the  writings  of  Thomas  Paine.”  He  had 
spotted  his  crowd,  and  exposed  them. 

Last  year,  in  the  city  of  Indianapolis,  Indiana, 
the  northern  Baptists  held  their  General  Conven¬ 
tion.  Many  of  their  most  faithful  members,  con¬ 
scious  of  the  inroads  that  are  being  made  on  the 
time-honored  position  of  the  Christian  Church  on 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


31 


the  fundamentals  of  the  Christian  faith,  made  an 
effort  to  have  the  Convention  commit  itself  on 
these  fundamentals.  The  battle  of  words  was  on. 
The  Liberals,  as  usual,  dodged  the  real  issue  and 
finally  succeeded  in  mustering  a  majority  vote  in 
favor  of  tabling  the  proposition  to  adopt  these 
fundamentals  on  the  ground  that  they  were  op¬ 
posed  to  adopting  a  ucreed.”  For  a  month  or 
more  after  the  General  Convention  adjourned  the 
debate  on  “Fundamentalism”  was  continued  in 
convention  halls,  in  the  religious  and  secular  press, 
in  homes  and  in  churches.  The  religious  world 
was  stirred  to  the  depths  because  of  this  rising 
and  threatening  menace. 

This  year  another  denomination,  the  northern 
Presbyterians,  held  a  similar  meeting  in  the  same 
city,  and  the  same  bone  of  contention  became  the 
dominating  issue  of  the  assembly.  This  time  the 
fight  centered  on  the  question  as  to  who  should 
be  moderator  of  the  Assembly.  The  man  select¬ 
ed  by  the  Fundamentalists  to  lead  them  in  this 
contest  was  none  less  than  W.  J.  Bryan,  whose 
scholarship  and  eloquence  have  of  late  years  been 
employed  in  turning  the  light  on  the  enemies  of 
the  Bible,  and  whose  fight  on  Evolution  and  kin¬ 
dred  heresies  has  given  him  a  standing  for  ortho¬ 
doxy  which  no  one  could  doubt  or  gainsay.  More¬ 
over,  his  ability  is  generally  recognized,  so  that  his 
fitness  for  the  place  was  unquestioned.  As  usual, 
the  modernists  evaded  the  real  issue.  They  se¬ 
lected  as  their  candidate  for  moderator  one  who 
declared  himself  a  “conservative”  but  who  at  the 


32 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


same  time  shielded  the  modernists  under  the  de¬ 
lusive  name  of  “toleration.”  The  modernists  won 
and  Bryan  was  defeated.  Although  this  Assembly 
passed  some  measures  which  some  interpret  as 
victories  for  Fundamentalism,  an  analysis  of  the 
meeting  indicates  that  the  vote  for  moderator 
was  a  fair  index  of  the  spiritual  complexion  of  the 
Assembly. 

While  the  name  of  Bryan  is  mentioned  in 
connection  with  these  illustrations,  it  is  in  order 
to  submit  another  illustration  in  which  he  figures 
largely.  Our  readers  recall  the  names  of  several 
of  his  most  well  known  books  against  Modernism, 
Evolution  being  his  principal  point  of  attack. 
Notable  among  these  are,  “In  His  Image”  and 
“The  Bible  and  Its  Enemies.”  One  thing  that 
should  not  be  forgotten  in  connection  with  this 
controversy  is  the  fact  that  without  exception  the 
outspoken  atheists,  infidels,  rationalists,  and  other 
avowed  enemies  of  the  Bible  are  lining  up  on  the 
side  of  Evolution.  What  would  be  more  natural 
than  that  preachers,  educators  occupying  chairs  in 
theological  seminaries,  and  other  religious  leaders 
calling  themselves  Christian  should  line  up  solidly 
against  this  anti-scriptural  heresy?  But  the  fact 
is  that  Bryan’s  bitterest  opposition  comes  from 
eminent  divines,  college  presidents,  educators 
holding  down  the  best  paying  positions  in  so- 
called  Christian  seminaries.  This  same  class,  sup¬ 
posed  to  be  the  champions  of  the  Christian  faith, 
are  the  loudest  in  their  protest  against  the  idea  of 
making  the  teaching  of  Evolution  (at  present  the 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


33 


most  popular  enemy  of  the  Bible)  unlawful  in  the 
public  schools. 

During  the  past  ten  years  a  number  of  ques¬ 
tionnaires  have  been  sent  out  by  interested  indi¬ 
viduals  to  men  noted  for  their  scholarship,  pulpit 
oratory,  and  success  on  the  lecture  platform.  A- 
mong  these  were  college  presidents,  scientists, 
eminent  theologians,  and  other  classes  of  recog¬ 
nized  leaders.  The  percentage  of  those  who  re¬ 
corded  their  unbelief — most  of  them  denying  the 
deity  and  virgin  birth  of  Christ,  disputing  the  au¬ 
thority  of  the  Bible  as  God’s  Word,  rejecting  the 
idea  of  the  miracle,  denouncing  the  idea  of  future 
punishment  for  the  wicked,  ridiculing  many  of  the 
things  which  men  of  faith  hold  dear,  some  even 
denying  the  existence  of  a  God — is  astonishing 
and  alarming.  Prof.  Loube,  one  of  those  to  send 
out  such  a  questionnaire,  afterwards  wrote  a  book 
on  the  answers  he  received,  in  which  he  very  pro¬ 
foundly  impressed  his  readers  with  the  deduction 
that  while  the  more  ignorant  classes  generally 
still  believed  the  old-fashioned  theology  the  more 
scholarly  and  enlightened  men  of  today  are  in¬ 
clined  to  skepticism  and  unbelief.  In  other  words, 
according  to  his  conclusion,  as  scholarship  in¬ 
creases  the  old-fashioned  faith  decreases. 

It  is  a  fact  that  the  teaching  of  Evolution  and 
kindred  heresies  finds  a  place  in  most  of  our  col¬ 
leges,  universities,  and  theological  seminaries, 
while  most  of  the  popular  preachers  in  America 
who  pride  themselves  in  their  scholarship  are 


34 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


either  believers  in  these  heresies  or  afraid  or  a- 
shamed  to  come  out  boldly  against  them. 

Such  facts  as  these  should  awaken  every  de¬ 
vout  believer  to  a  sense  of  the  dangers  confronting 
ing  us.  The  Christ-professing  world  is  rapidly 
turning  to  skepticism.  The  Christian  Church,  from 
its  God-ordained  position  of  messenger  of  the 
faith  and  home  of  the  faithful,  is  being  turned  into 
a  social  betterment  and  civic  righteousness  organ¬ 
ization.  What  pronounced  skeptics  are  saying 
from  the  housetops  is  secretly  cherished  in  the 
hearts  of  many  who  by  most  people  are  supposed 
to  be  fairly  sound  in  the  faith.  Not  only  Baptists 
and  Presbyterians  (the  churches  named  in  our 
illustrations,  and  which  churches  are  considered 
less  honeycombed  with  Modernism  than  some 
others)  but  Methodists,  Mennonites,  Dunkards, 
and  other  evangelical  bodies  are  confronted  with 
this  monster — Modernism.  We  might  as  well 
open  our  eyes  to  the  fact  that  he  is  at  our  door, 
and  we  can  take  our  choice  between  surrender, 
running,  or  fighting. 

The  contrast  between  Modernism  and  the  old 
orthodox  Christian  faith  is  thus  graphically  set 
forth  in  “China’s  Millions”  under  the  heading, 

“Twelve  Points  of  Difference  between  the  Old 
and  the  New  Theology:” 

1.  The  New  Theology  says,  the  Bible  contains  the 
Word  of  God;  the  Old  Theology  says,  the  Bible  is  the 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


35 


Word  of  God — the  Word  judging  man,  rather  than  man 
judging  the  Word. 

2.  The  New  Theology  says,  Jesus  Christ  is  a  son 
of  God;  the  Old  Theology  says,  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God. 

3.  The  New  Theology  says,  the  birth  of  Jesus  was 

natural;  the  Old  Theology  says,  the  birth  of  Jesus  was 

supernatural. 

4.  The  New  Theology  says,  the  death  of  Jesus  Christ 
was  exemplary;  the  Old  Theology  says,  the  death  of  Je¬ 
sus  was  expiatory. 

5.  The  New  Theology  says,  the  life  of  Christ  is  the 
life  He  lived  here  on  earth;  the  Old  Theology  says,  the 
true  life  of  Christ  is  also  the  life  He  is  living  for  us  at 
the  Throne. 

6.  The  New  Theology  says,  character  is  built  up, 

like  Babel,  from  beneath;  the  Old  Theology  says,  real 

and  lasting  character  is  something  that  comes  down,  like 

the  New  Jerusalem,  from  above. 

7.  The  New  Theology  says,  man  is  the  product  of 
evolution;  the  Old  Theology  says,  man  is  God’s  special 
creation. 

8.  The  New  Theology  says,  man  is  the  unfortunate 
victim  of  environment;  the  Old  Theology  says,  man  is 
an  actual  sinner,  fallen  and  utterly  lost. 

9.  The  New  Theology  says,  man  is  justified  by 

works  of  his  own;  the  Old  Theology  says,  man  is  justi¬ 
fied  by  faith  in  the  Atoning  Blood  of  Christ. 

10.  The  New  Theology  says,  the  new  life  and  nature 
of  Christianity  comes  by  natural  development  of  the  best 
that  is  in  us;  the  Old  Theology  says,  it  comes  by  mir¬ 
aculous  regeneration  and  sanctification  through  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

11.  The  New  Theology  says,  the  Gospel  was  sent 

to  save  the  world;  the  Old  Theology  says,  the  Gospel 

was  sent  to  save  men  out  of  the  world. 

12.  The  New  Theology  sets  its  hope  of  the  future 


36 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


on  man’s  civilization;  the  Old  Theology  sets  its  hope  on 
Christ’s  coming  and  Kingdom,  spiritually  existent  today 
in  men’s  hearts,  actual  and  gloriously  so  in  a  future  day. 

Methinks  I  hear  some  one  say,  “Surely  there 
are  no  Mennonites  who  reject  the  fundamentals 
of  the  Christian  faith !”  Put  in  this  form,  the 
question  might  be  answered  “No.”  You  would 
have  to  go  a  long  way  to  find  a  communicant 
member  of  the  Mennonite  Church  who  would 
openly  and  avowedly  reject  the  doctrine  of  In¬ 
spiration  of  Scripture,  of  the  Deity  of  Christ,  of 
the  Authority  of  Scripture,  of  the  Virgin  Birth  of 
Christ,  of  the  eternal  punishment  of  the  wicked, 
and  kindred  Christian  doctrines.  But  you  find  an 
astonishingly  large  percentage  of  those  who  with¬ 
in  the  past  ten  years  have  attended  colleges,  unir 
versities,  and  seminaries  of  liberal  leanings  who 
are  weak  enough  on  the  fundamentals  of  the 
Christian  faith  that  they  seldom  if  ever  defend 
them  except  in  a  general  way ;  who  seem  to  have 
a  greater  relish  for  liberalistic  literature  than  for 
the  writings  of  those  who  are  outspoken  against 
Modernism ;  who  manifest  a  greater  friendliness 
toward  outspoken  champions  of  Liberalism  than 
toward  those  of  their  own  brethren  who  discern 
the  signs  of  the  times  and  are  warning  our  people 
against  the  dangers  confronting  us.  Unless  the 
Mennonite  Church  takes  cognizance  of  these 
things  and  begins  at  once  a  vigorous  policy  of  con¬ 
servation  of  the  old  orthodox  faith  and  of  our 
young  people  for  this  faith,  another  decade  will 
find  us  where  many  of  the  popular  churches  are 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


37 


today — helpless  under  the  sway  of  Modernism,  its 
young  blood  enthused  over  anti-scriptural  stand¬ 
ards.  The  problems  thus  raised  will  be  discussed 
in  succeeding  chapters. 

From  what  is  stated  in  the  preceding  para¬ 
graph  the  reader  might  get  the  idea  that  the  writ¬ 
er  concedes  that  the  scholarship  of  the  present 
time  is  practically  all  on  the  side  of  Liberalism, 
antagonistic  to  the  fundamentals  of  the  Christian 
faith.  On  the  other  hand  we,  with  others,  recog¬ 
nize  that  the  ripest  scholarship  is  still  on  the  side 
of  orthodoxy.  There  are  numerous  instances 
where,  under  the  name  of  science,  some  anti- 
scriptural  heresy  was  bolstered  up  with  great  en¬ 
thusiasm  by  learned  men,  but  it  takes  only  about 
one  generation  (sometimes  less)  for  later  revela¬ 
tions  of  science  to  prove  such  theories  false.  Some 
of  the  ripest  scholars  now  living  are  ardent  de¬ 
fenders  of  the  Bible  as  the  Book  of  God,  holding 
it  to  be  absolutely  reliable,  the  testimony  of  its 
critics  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.  In  his 
admirable  treatise  on  “Evolution  at  the  Bar,” 
Philip  Mauro  quotes  author  after  author,  scholar 
after  scholar,  their  testimonies  covering  page  after 
page,  showing  that  the  ripest  scholarship  is  still 
against  Evolution  and  kindred  heresies.  Among 
th  ese  he  names  the  following :  Prof.  Luther  T. 
Townsend,  author  of  “The  Collapse  of  Evolution;” 
Tames  Dwight  Dana,  famous  American  geologist, 
mineralogist,  and  zoologist;  Lord  Kelvin,  foremost 
among  English  scientists ;  and  many  others  re¬ 
nowned  for  their  scholarship  and  attainments. 


38 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


The  following  sentence  is  taken  from  “Fallacies  of 
Evolution,”  by  J.  D.  Charles :  “Among  hundreds 
of  others  who  deny  the  theory  (of  Evolution)  we 
may  mention  Agassiz,  Carpenter,  Beale,  Dana, 
Dawson,  Faraday,  Gray,  Herschel,  Helmholtz, 
Lord  Kelvin,  See,  Leibnitz,  Lantz,  Pasteur,  Verdt, 
Haecke,  Maury,  Romanes.” 

But  while  it  is  true  that  the  ripest  scholarship 
of  the  present  is  still  on  the  side  of  orthodoxy,  it 
is  also  true  that  most  of  the  writings  against 
heterodoxy  on  the  part  of  this  class  of  men  are 
confined  almost  wholly  to  a  protest  against  “sci¬ 
ence,  falsely  socalled”  while  the  men  and  women 
who  write  the  text  and  reference  books  for  our 
schools  and  colleges  are,  as  a  rule,  the  ones  who 
take  it  for  granted  that  Evolution  is  practically 
a  proven  fact  and  that  there  are  no  serious  reasons 
why  scientists  should  allow  anything  that  may  be 
written  in  the  Bible  to  interfere  with  their  con¬ 
clusions.  It  is  their  writings,  therefore,  rather 
than  the  writings  of  men  and  women  who  are 
scripturally  sound,  that  find  their  way  into  the 
hands  of  our  young  people  in  school  life,  beginning 
with  the  public  school  and  ending  with  the  univer¬ 
sity  and  seminary.  Here  lies  our  danger — a  real 
vital  problem  which  confronts  parents,  teachers, 
and  spiritual  overseers. 

The  enemy  of  souls  today  is  using  the  same 
tactics  that  he  did  when  first  he  introduced  him¬ 
self  to  Mother  Eve  in  the  garden  of  Eden.  He 
dodges  the  real  issue.  Eve  heard  much  about  en¬ 
lightenment — what  she  might  expect  if  she  assert- 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


39 


ed  her  independence  to  a  sufficient  extent  to  reach 
forth  her  hand  and  partake  of  the  forbidden  fruit, 
but  she  heard  only  one  feeble  sentence  of  nega¬ 
tion:  “Ye  shall  not  surely  die.”  In  like  manner, 
today  the  devil  contents  himself  by  simply  scorn¬ 
ing  and  laughing  away  the  Truth  of  God’s  Word, 
while  he  exerts  himself  energetically  as  an  angel 
of  light,  convincing  men  how  much  better  it  is  to 
disregard  the  “thou  shalt  not’s”  of  Scripture  and 
asserting  their  “liberty”  to  think  and  do  as  they 
please;  holding  before  the  people  today  the  rain¬ 
bow-like  specter  of  the  golden  age,  which  lies  just 
beyond  the  time  when  the  human  family  will  have 
thrown  off  the  bondage  of  law.  His  most  success¬ 
ful  game  is  that  of  putting  people  to  sleep  while 
he  keeps  up  his  propaganda  of  unbelief  and 
drifting  in  the  popular  current.  Like  the  false 
prophets  in  the  days  of  Jeremiah,  the  emissaries  of 
Satan  today  are  denouncing  as  alarmists  all  who 
discern  the  signs  of  the  times  and  faithfully  sound 
the  note  of  warninig.  Blind  optimism  is  but  the 
devil’s  hood  to  blind  the  eyes  of  the  people,  that 
they  may  remain  satisfied  to  drift  down  the  stream 
— until  it  is  forever  and  eternally  too  late  to  find 
safety,  peace,  and  glory  at  the  hands  of  the  true 
God  of  our  salvation. 

Modernism  can  be  defined  in  one  word — UN¬ 
BELIEF.  But  modernists,  taking  a  lesson  from 
their  master,  do  not  propose  to  let  this  come  up, 
if  they  can  help  it.  Their  view  of  the  Bible  is  just 
as  tenable  as  is  the  view  of  orthodox  people — save 
in  the  matter  of  method  and  interpretation.  They 


40 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


believe  in  Jesus — and  it  is  not  necessary  to  believe- 
that  He  was  without  human  father,  or  where  He 
went  after  He  was  buried  in  Joseph’s  tomb.  Their 
designs  are  kept  hidden  as  long  as  they  can  be 
kept  out  of  the  way.  Even  their  most  outspoken 
leaders,  while  brazen-facedly  denying  and  ridicul¬ 
ing  the  fundamentals  of  Scripture,  pose  as  mar¬ 
tyrs  when  a  serious  effort  is  made  to  oust  them 
from  their  office  because  of  their  unbelief.  As  a 
study  in  their  methods  of  attack,  let  us  take  the 
Jonah  story.  You  do  not  hear  as  much  about  that 
as  you  used  to;  people  are  talking  about  other 
things.  But  much  as  was  said  about  a  man  re¬ 
maining  alive  three  days  in  a  whale’s  belly  (to  say 
nothing  of  the  whale’s  proverbially  small  throat) 
that  was  not  the  real  point  at  issue.  Acknowledge 
the  possibility  of  a  miracle,  and  it  is  not  hard  to 
believe  the  story,  whether  the  whale  swallowed 
Jonah  or  Jonah  swallowed  the  whale.  But  the 
real  point  to  watch  is  this :  This  experience  with 
the  whale  was  the  only  incident  connected  with 
the  whole  story  to  which  Christ  referred  and  gave 
it  credence.  To  discredit  this  part  of  the  story 
means  to  discredit  the  doctrine  of  Christ’s  infalli¬ 
bility;  hence  the  real  question  at  issue  was  not  the 
credibility  of  the  Jonah  story  but  the  infallibility 
of  Christ.  Again,  let  us  notice  that  in  the  Evolu¬ 
tion  theory  the  real  question  at  issue  is  not  so 
much  whether  man  was  created  by  immediate  act 
of  God  or  whether  he  ascended  through  develop¬ 
ment  over  the  amoeba-tadpole-monkey-man  pro¬ 
cess  or  route ;  but  because  this  theory  directly 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


41 


contradicts  the  teaching  of  the  Bible  concerning 
man’s  origin  and  history,  it  can  not  be  believed 
without  discrediting  the  Bible  as  an  authentic  rev¬ 
elation  from  God  who  cannot  lie. 

Modernism,  then,  stripped  of  its  verbiage  and 
pretense,  is  this :  An  effort  to  set  aside  the  old 
orthodox  Christian  faith,  and  substitute  in  its  stead 
the  unbelief  that  through  the  centuries  has  ap¬ 
peared  as  the  enemy  of  Christ  and  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  religion.  Perhaps  we  should  not  say,  “Mod¬ 
ernism,”  for  the  theories  which  modernists  hold — 
some  of  them — were  held  by  unbelievers  of  many 
centuries  ago.  “Aristotle,  who  lived  B.  C.  384-322, 
may  be  regarded  as  the  father  of  the  theory  of 
descent”  (Charles).  About  the  only  living  thing 
about  the  system  that  is  distinctly  modern  is  the 
thought  of  giving  unbelief  an  ecclesiastical  coat 
and  labeling  it  “Christianity.”  The  thought  seemed 
to  have  dawned  upon  Ingersoll  in  his  last  days, 
for  it  is  reported  that  shortly  before  his  death  he 
said  there  was  no  longer  any  need  for  him  to 
continue  his  lectures  against  Christianity,  since 
preachers  are  telling  his  story  for  him. 


DANGERS  CONFRONTING  OUR  YOUNG 

PEOPLE 


Years  ago  I  was  in  correspondence  with  one 
of  our  workers  whose  experiences  had  been  sim¬ 
ilar  to  those  of  my  own.  Being  interested  in  the 
training  of  young  people,  and  desiring  to  serve 
their  best  interests,  he  encountered  a  number  of 
problems  which  brought  him  face  to  face  with  the 
issue  of  Liberalism  vs.  Conservatism.  Among 
other  things  he  wrote : 

‘T  catch  it  from  both  sides.  The  progressives 
have  it  in  for  me  because  I  do  not  side  in  with  them 
in  all  things.  The  conservatives  have  it  in  for  me 
because  they  think  I  let  the  progressives  have  their 
own  way  too  much.  One  side  kicks  me  because  I 
am  too  slow,  and  the  other  side  kicks  me  because  I 
am  too  fast.  But  I  don’t  care.  I  can  not  please 
both  sides,  so  I  am  not  trying  to  please  either.  It 
doesn’t  hurt  me.” 

To  this  I  replied,  in  substance: 

‘‘It  hurts  me.  While  I  am  praying  the  Lord  for 
grace  to  bear  in  patience  everything  that  is  hurled 
at  me  personally,  it  is  exceedingly  painful  to  me  to 
see  the  cause  of  Christ  suffer  because  people  are 
pulling  at  cross  purposes.  Through  a  misinterpreta¬ 
tion  of  one  another’s  motives,  people  fail  to  give  one 
another  credit  for  what  they  attempt  to  do,  and  in 
this  way  many  become  discouraged  while  our  young 
people’s  temptations  become  all  the  greater.  I  con¬ 
fess  that  these  things  hurt  me.” 

The  curse  of  Modernism,  with  its  attendant 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


43 


,  evils,  makes  the  training  of  our  young  people  for 
God  and  the  Church  an  ever-increasingly  difficult 
task.  While  the  issues  to  be  presented  in  this 
chapter  are  vital  to  old  as  well  as  young,  the  fact 
that  “the  young  people  of  today  are  the  Church 
of  tomorrow,”  and  that  the  issues  herein  named 
carry  an  especial  appeal  to  those  of  younger  blood. 
I  am  constrained  to  discuss  them  under  the  title 
standing  at  the  head  of  this  chapter. 

As  parents,  we  can  not,  neither  should  we  de¬ 
sire  to,  get  away  from  this  divine  injunction  with 
reference  to  our  children : 

“Bring  them  up  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of 
the  Lord.” 

Neither  can  we,  or  should  we  desire  to,  get 
away  from  this  solemn  warning: 

“If  any  provide  not  for  his  own,  and  specially 
for  those  of  his  own  house,  he  hath  denied  the  faith, 
and  is  worse  than  an  infidel.” 

Remembering  that  “children  are  an  heritage 
from  the  Lord,”  all  Christian  parents  can  appre¬ 
ciate  the  responsibility  resting  upon  them.  When 
the  faithful  fathers  and  mothers  in  Israel  will 
stand  before  the  Throne  of  God  and  hear  the 
words  of  commendation,  “Thou  hast  been  faithful 
over  a  few  things,”  not  the  least  among  these 
“few  things”  is  the  proper  care  for  and  training 
of  their  children. 

A  few  weeks  ago  I  was  talking  with  an  aged 
grandmother  who  recounted  the  experiences  of  her 
life.  Among  other  things  she  said : 


44 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


“We  had  ten  children,  but  only  four  of  them 
grew  up  to  be  men  and  women.  Two  of  them  died 
in  infancy.  One  time  scarlet  fever  entered  our  home, 
and  before  it  was  over  with  four  more  of  the  children 
were  gone,  two  of  them  laid  in  the  same  grave.  Peo¬ 
ple  did  not  know  then  how  to  take  care  of  fever  pa¬ 
tients  as  they  do  now.” 

Smiles  and  tears  were  in  evidence  as  this 
woman,  having  a  true  mother’s  heart,  told  her 
simple  story.  She  was  conscious  of  the  broken 
heartstrings  occasioned  by  the  taking  away  of 
her  loved  ones,  yet  she  realized  that  they  were 
safe  in  the  glory  world.  When  a  mortal  enemy, 
disease,  laid  hold  on  her  children  she  did  what 
only  a  true  mother  is  constrained  to  do  in  an  ef¬ 
fort  to  save  them.  The  fact  that  she  was  not  able 
to  save  all  of  them  did  not  lessen  her  responsi¬ 
bility  of  doing  all  in  her  power  to  that  end.  It  is 
only  then,  no  matter  whether  children  are  saved 
or  lost,  that  the  divine  benediction,  “She  hath 
done  what  she  could,”  can  be  given. 

Today  our  young  people  are  encompassed  a- 
bout  with  mortal  enemies,  more  deadly  than  scar¬ 
let  fever  has  ever  been.  While  mortal  disease 
may  take  our  little  ones  away,  it  simply  relieves 
them  from  bodily  pains  and  ills  and  the  sorrows 
of  earth,  and  hastens  the  time  when  their  happy 
souls  are  wafted  home  to  glory ;  but  when  some 
mortal  enemies  of  the  souls  of  children  take  hold 
of  them,  a  failure  to  rescue  them  means  not  only 
a  degraded,  God-dishonoring  life  here,  but  an 
“eternal  destruction  from  the  presence  of  the 
Lord” — -a  matter  so  serious  that  no  parent  with 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


45 


real  father  or  mother  love  can  ever  think  of  count¬ 
ing  it  a  little  thing.  As  our  “children  are  an  herit¬ 
age  from  the  Lord/’  let  nothing  be  left  undone 
that  can  be  done  to  “bring  them  up  in  the  nurture 
and  admonition  of  the  Lord,”  to  “train  up  the 
child  in  the  way  he  should  go,”  to  the  end  that 
we  may  hand  them  back  to  God  as  shining  jewels 
for  His  Kingdom. 

But  what  are  these  enemies  which  our  young 
people  are  facing  today?  We  will  name  a  few, 
the  ones  nearest  at  hand  at  the  present  time. 
Foremost  among  these  is 

The  Popular  Current 

which,  at  the  present  time,  brings  dangerously 
near  to  our  doors  the  curse  of  MODERNISM,  no¬ 
ticed  in  the  preceding  chapter. 

The  popular  current,  as  we  understand  it,  is 
the  stream  of  life,  the  ordinary  course  in  which 
the  world  goes.  Since  “the  whole  world  lieth  in 
wickedness,”  and  since  walking  “according  to  the 
course  of  this  world”  is  designated  in  Scripture  as 
one  of  the  marks  of  those  who  are  “dead  in  tres¬ 
passes  and  sins”  (Eph.  2:1,2),  we  recognize  at 
once  the  nature  of  the  danger  before  us.  It  is 
natural  for  people  to  yield  to  the  influences  around 
them.  Israel  forsook  God  because  the  people 
wanted  to  be  “like  other  nations.”  The  same  de¬ 
sire  is  in  evidence  on  every  hand  today.  Young 
people,  especially,  being  in  the  impressionable  per¬ 
iod  of  their  lives  and  lacking  sufficient  experience 


46 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


to  give  them  a  deep-seated  hatred  for  popular  sin, 
are  especially  susceptible  to  influence  and  for  this 
reason  need  to  be  safeguarded  against  danger,  as 
the  faithful  shepherd  guards  the  tender  lambs  a- 
gainst  the  ravages  of  ravening  wolves. 

There  are  more  and  stronger  temptations  to 
draw  our  young  people  into  the  popular  current 
than  there  were  a  generation  ago.  There  are  more 
young  people  in  high  schools  than  there  used  to 
be ;  industrial  changes  have  brought  more  of  them 
into  the  shops  in  early  manhood  and  womanhood ; 
rapid  transit  has  brought  them  into  closer  contact 
with  pleasure  resorts  and  other  places  both  fasci¬ 
nating  and  destructive  to  purity  and  godliness. 
This  medley  of  attractions — pleasure,  pride,  riches, 
the  theater,  the  movie,  the  billiard  hall,  the  ball 
room,  the  club  room,  the  world’s  vain  fashions,  the 
secret  lodge,  prospects  for  positions  of  ease  and 
honor  and  power — is  appealing  to  our  young  peo¬ 
ple  with  greater  power  and  directness  than  it  did 
a  generation  ago  because  our  latter-day  inventions 
and  associations  have  brought  these  things  nearer 
to  them.  Moreover,  the  very  bringing  up  of  chil¬ 
dren  in  the  midst  of  hardship  and  self-denial,  cou¬ 
pled  with  the  advantages  of  our  modern  school 
system,  has  the  effect  of  developing  a  superior 
type  of  manhood,  and  the  world  is  quick  to  make 
a  bid  for  them  in  the  form  of  flattery  and  tempting 
offers  which  are  hard  to  turn  down. 

People  are  the  more  easily  victimized  by  this 
popular  current  because  it  is  not  always  clear  to 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


47 


them  what  is  involved.  They  see  only  “restric¬ 
tion”  in  the  effort  to  keep  them  out  of  these  dan¬ 
gers,  and  can  not  see  why  they  should  be  re¬ 
strained  in  their  liberties.  They  are  blinded — at 
least  in  part — to  the  fact  that  in  this  downward 
stream  there  is  not  only  liberty,  pleasure,  good 
fellowship,  temporary  satisfaction,  and  popularity, 
but  also  lust,  depravity,  and  ruin.  The  sparkling 
liquid  and  brilliant  cup  are  but  the  forerunner  of 
a  drunkard’s  grave  and  a  drunkard’s  hell,  the  inno¬ 
cent  game  is  but  the  beginning  of  the  gambler’s 
end,  the  house  of  pleasure  is  but  the  half-way 
station  on  the  road  to  the  den  of  infamy — and  so 
on  down  the  list.  It  is  not  for  the  mere  sake  of 
prohibiting  people  from  the  privilege  of  popular 
associations  that  these  things  are  opposed,  but  in 
the  popular  current  are  to  be  found  the  cup,  the 
pipe,  the  cigar,  the  cigarette,  the  theater,  the  ball 
room,  the  lodge,  the  gambling  den,  the  circus,  the 
brothel,  and  ever  /  other  place  and  influence  and 
sin  known  to  sinful  men.  The  longer  you  are  in 
the  current  the  less  hideous  these  things  seem  to 
you  and  the  more  of  them  there  are  in  the  list  of 
your  indulgences.  All  that  there  is  in  the  world 
in  the  way  of  wreck  and  ruin  may  be  found  in  the 
popular  current  of  worldliness. 

School  Influence 

We  thank  God  for  the  opportunities  we  have 
for  the  education  of  our  children.  Yet  we  can 
not,  and  ought  not,  close  our  eyes  to  the  fact  that 


48 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


in  the  school  system  of  today  there  are  many 
grave  dangers  to  our  young  people — and  we  ought 
to  faithfully  and  fearlessly  face  the  facts  and  meet 
them.  Among  the  unfavorable  influences  con¬ 
nected  with  present  day  school  life  are  the  follow¬ 
ing: 


1.  The  Bible  banished  from  nearly  all  the 
public  schools. 

2.  Evolution  and  other  anti-scriptural  her¬ 
esies  found  in  our  text  and  reference  books  and 
either  taught  or  encouraged  by  many  teachers. 

3.  Lack  of  religious  training  in  the  average 
school  outside  the  denominational  schools. 

4.  Immoral  practices  found  in  many  com¬ 
munities. 

5.  The  prominence  given  the  dance  and  the 
military  drill  in  places,  being  made  practically 
compulsory  in  some  schools. 

6.  The  prominence  given  athletics  in  most 
schools.  (We  are  not  talking  about  healthful  rec¬ 
reation,  but  about  the  sporting  craze  which  in 
many  schools  makes  athletics  one  of  the  most 
prominent  features.) 

7.  The  cultivation  of  vanity  and  pride — an 
influence  which  stands  in  direct  conflict  with  the 
standards  fostered  in  model  Christian  homes  and 
churches. 

Not  all  of  these  influences  exist  in  all  places; 
but  they  are  in  evidence  in  enough  places  to  give 
all  of  them  a  standing  among  the  things  named 
as  contributing  to  the  dangerous  influences  com- 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


49 


ing  from  the  school  atmosphere  of  the  present 
time.  In  too  many  places  there  is  a  strange  mix¬ 
ture  of  seeming  religion,  unbelief,  socialism,  ra¬ 
tionalism,  the  sporting  craze,  and  irreligion  that 
has  meant  the  spiritual  downfall  and  ruin  of  many 
of  our  brightest  young  men  and  young  women. 

These  facts  emphasize  the  two  things:  (1) 
The  need  for  special  care,  both  on  the  part  of 
young  people  and  of  parents  and  teachers,  that 
the  dangers  connected  with  school  life  may  be 
avoided  and  proper  safeguards  be  provided;  (2) 
the  importance  of  well  supported  and  efficiently 
manned  denominational  schools,  where  our  young 
people  may  have  proper  training  for  life’s  duties 
without  being  subjected  to  the  dangers  found  in 
connection  with  school  life  in  so  many  communi¬ 
ties. 

We  have  this  advice  to  give  to  Christian  par¬ 
ents  :  If  the  high  schools  in  your  community  are 
comparatively  free  from  the  objectionable  influ¬ 
ences  named,  if  your  children  are  disposed  to  be 
loyal  to  the  home  church  and  you  have  a  con¬ 
trolling  influence  over  them,  and  if  community  in¬ 
fluences  are  not  too  unfavorable,  keep  them  at 
home  as  long  as  you  can.  Otherwise,  you  can  not 
afford,  for  the  sake  of  saving  a  few  dollars,  to 
keep  them  in  dangerous  environments  when  you 
might  save  them  for  God  and  the  Church  by 
sending  them  to  a  school  where  the  standards  of 
the  Bible  and  the  Church  are  being  maintained. 
Whether  in  school  or  out,  help  your  children  find 
such  environments  as  will  be  conducive  to  the 


50 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


formation  of  a  sturdy  Christian  character  and  a 
stalwart  Christian  faith.  A  pure  faith  and  a  pure 
life  are  two  things  for  which  there  are  no  accept¬ 
able  substitutes. 

Worldly  Amusements 

Another  great  danger  confronting  our  young 
people  is  the  pleasure-god  which  is  claiming  an 
increasing  number  of  victims.  Where  one  man 
seeks  the  house  of  prayer,  dozens  of  them  seek 
the  house  of  mirth.  Have  you  noticed  the  prom¬ 
inence  given  the  sporting  news  in  the  daily  news¬ 
papers?  the  eagerness  with  which  many  people 
watch  for  news  from  the  sporting  world?  the  large 
number  of  people  who  attend  the  Sunday  after¬ 
noon  ball  games  and  frequent  pleasure  resorts  as 
compared  with  those  who  attend  services  at  the 
house  of  the  Lord  in  the  forenoon?  the  little  time 
taken  up  in  the  average  home  or  the  average  so¬ 
cial  circle  in  Bible  study  and  spiritual  conversa¬ 
tion  as  compared  with  the  time  consumed  in  fool¬ 
ish  nonsense?  the  tendency  to  make  the  public 
services  at  the  house  of  the  Lord  entertaining 
rather  than  spiritually  uplifting?  the  absorbing 
interest  taken  in  prize  fights  and  national  games? 

It  is  not  an  uncommon  thing,  in  some  schools, 
to  witness  a  greater  interest  in  athletic  games  and 
in  theatricals  than  in  any  other  thing  connected 
with  the  institution.  In  some  communities  the 
idea  of  “having  a  good  time”  has  gripped  the  body 
of  young  people  so  strongly  that  they  have  no 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


51 


taste  for  anything  but  foolishness — and  their 
church  connections,  if  they  have  any,  are  simply 
nominal.  Many  people  are  unfitted  for  solid  read¬ 
ing  because  their  reading  habits  keep  them  pinned 
to  the  comic  section  in  the  newspaper,  the  silly 
novel,  and  news  from  the  sporting  world.  As  I 
write,  my  eye  falls  upon  a  daily  paper  that  tells 
about  “80,000  fans  fighting  wildly”  to  gain  ad¬ 
mittance  to  a  well  advertised  prize-fight.  A  few 
years  ago  people  almost  gasped  for  breath  when 
it  was  announced  that  one  of  “Billy”  Sunday’s 
collections  at  the  close  of  an  eight-weeks  evan¬ 
gelistic  campaign  amounted  to  more  than  $100,000; 
yet  a  heavyweight  champion  would  hardly  look  at 
a  sum  like  that  as  proper  compensation  for  a  few 
hours’  boxing  bout.  An  illustration  showing  how 
wild  some  people  are  after  this  kind  of  sport  is 
furnished  by  the  town  of  Shelby,  Montana,  which 
risked  bankruptcy  in  order  to  have  the  honor  of 
having  a  prize-fight  staged  at  that  place.  Two 
of  its  banks  were  closed  soon  after  because  of 
financial  losses  through  this  fight.  Several  years 
ago  I  was  called  to  a  certain  community  to  have 
a  part  in  a  religious  service  one  Sunday  morning. 
In  the  afternoon,  as  we  were  on  the  way  to  visit 
a  sick  brother,  we  passed  by  a  park  where  there 
was  a  swimming  pool  and  baseball  diamond,  and 
thousands  of  people  had  gathered  there  to  see  the 
sports.  During  the  financial  depression  of  several 
years  ago,  when  starvation  was  staring  thousands 
of  people  in  the  face,  many  of  them  got  hold  of 
enough  money  to  keep  up  their  habitual  patronage 


52 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


of  theaters,  movies,  ball  rooms,  and  other  pleasure 
resorts. 

Has  everybody  gone  wild  over  this  pleasure 
craze?  No.  There  are  yet  seven  thousand  in  Israel 
who  have  not  bowed  the  knee  to  Baal.  Many  peo¬ 
ple  are  awake  to  the  results  of  the  lure  of  pleasure, 
and  we  are  not  without  wholesome  teaching  along 
this  line.  But  the  facts  as  we  have  stated  them 
exist,  and  the  dangers  connected  with  the  evil 
should  be  pointed  out.  The  average  reader  could, 
from  personal  knowledge,  continue  the  list  of  il¬ 
lustrations,  for  the  goddess  of  pleasure  is  every¬ 
where  in  evidence.  More  people  have  laughed 
their  way  to  hell,  perhaps,  than  have  gone  there 
through  any  other  route.  “She  that  liveth  in 
pleasure  is  dead  while  she  liveth.” 

In  pointing  out  the  evils  of  the  sporting  craze 
it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  pleasure  in  itself  is 
not  an  evil.  Happiness  is  one  of  God’s  great 
blessings,  and  God  intends  that  it  should  be  the 
lot  of  His  people,  both  here  and  hereafter.  Pleas¬ 
ure  is  right — provided  that  you  take  it  in  things 
that  are  pleasing  to  God,  uplifting  to  the  soul, 
strengthening  to  the  character,  conducive  to  the 
promotion  of  purity,  righteousness,  and  greater 
love  for  God  and  godliness.  It  is  a  fact  that  in 
this  life  “a  merry  heart  doeth  good  like  a  medi¬ 
cine,”  while  in  the  life  to  come  at  the  right  hand 
of  God  “there  are  pleasures  forevermore.” 

But  it  is  not  this  kind  of  pleasure  that  is 
leading  the  world  astray  or  against  which  we  need 
to  give  any  warning.  Study  the  attractions  which 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


53 


hold  the  absorbing  interest  of  worldlings — and, 
sad  to  say,  of  many  church  members — and  you  are 
impressed  with  the  fact  that  they  are  all  of  a  char¬ 
acter  which  cause  people  to  take  less  interest  in 
real  virtues  and  true  Christian  piety — which  quench 
the  spiritual  life,  make  the  religion  of  Jesus  seem 
less  attractive,  and  foster  the  spirit  of  giddiness, 
vanity,  and  ungodliness.  The  genuine  sport  and 
the  consecrated  Christian  are  not  found  in  the 
same  individual. 

Immorality 

There  is  a  closer  connection  between  this  evil 
and  the  one  just  considered  than  most  people  are 
aware  of.  The  oft-traveled  road  between  the 
dance  and  the  brothel  is  an  illustration.  Immor¬ 
ality  is  on  the  increase — so  declared  by  all  who 
have  made  a  study  of  present  conditions,  and 
many  of  whom  list  the  following  as  among  the 
contributing  causes : 

1.  Looseness  in  so-called  high  society. 

2.  Unbridled  lust  of  men,  coupled  with  com¬ 
mercialized  vice. 

3.  The  divorce  evil. 

4.  Influence  of  the  dance,  the  movie,  and  the 
public  bathing  resort. 

5.  Influence  of  immodest  apparel — witnessed 
on  the  streets,  in  the  social  circle,  and  at  public 
bathing  resorts. 

6.  The  decline  of  faith — which  carries  with 
it  a  lack  of  horror  for  sin. 

7.  The  double  social  standard,  which  con¬ 
dones  in  man  what  it  condemns  in  woman. 


54 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


8.  A  general  laxness  because  of  all  these  in¬ 
fluences  combined. 

We  may  not  be  able  to  remove  all  these 
causes,  but  we  can  at  least  see  to  it  that  none 
of  these  causes  rests  with  us — that  as  individuals 
we  live  a  pure  and  holy  life,  and  use  our  testi¬ 
mony  and  influence  on  the  right  side.  Too  many 
people  who  are  themselves  morally  pure  are  not 
careful  enough  about  their  own  individual  actions. 
They  visit  questionable  amusement  resorts  be¬ 
cause  other  people  do.  They  appear  in  mixed 
company  with  exposed  arms  and  bosoms  and  cloth¬ 
ing  otherwise  that  is  not  suggestive  of  modesty. 
They  are  not  careful  to  entertain  only  pure 
thoughts  in  their  own  meditations  and  imagina¬ 
tions.  It  is  too  often  the  case  that  men  who  are 
known  to  live  immoral  lives  are  admitted  in  full 
standing  into  the  society  of  respectable  people. 
Though  pure  themselves,  people  thus  carelessly 
put  the  stamp  of  approval  on  things  that  lead  to 
immorality.  When  once  all  pure-minded  men  and 
women  are  awakened  to  the  dangers  lurking  in 
such  carelessness  and  inconsistencies,  when  we 
hear  more  definite  teaching  along  these  lines  by 
parents,  teachers,  ministers,  and  leaders  in  society, 
we  may  expect  to  see  the  specter  of  immorality 
removed  farther  away  from  our  doors. 

Are  we  unduly  alarmed  about  this  great  men¬ 
acing  evil  at  our  doors?  Perhaps  some  may  think 
so.  But  there  are  a  number  of  facts  staring  us  in 
the  face  that  are  hard  to  overlook. 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


55 


Every  year  thousands  of  young  girls  disap¬ 
pear,  victims  of  the  white  slave  traffic. 

So  common  have  venereal  diseases  become 
among  men  that  health  authorities  have  felt  called 
upon  to  post  notices  in  conspicuous  places,  giving 
warning  to  unsuspecting  people,  with  directions 
as  to  what  to  do  to  get  rid  of  such  diseases. 

While  attempts  are  being  made  to  confine 
fallen  women  to  “red  light”  districts,  no  very 
serious  attempt  is  made  to  restrain  fallen  men 
from  entering  such  districts  and  carrying  the. 
pollen  of  disease  into  respectable  homes. 

Within  the  past  year  there  have  come  reports 
from  many  communities  in  a  number  of  states 
telling  of  numerous  scandals  connected  with  high 
school  life. 

In  almost  every  community  there  are  pleas¬ 
ure  resorts  which,  if  not  vice  breeders  in  them¬ 
selves,  are  at  least  exerting  an  influence  which 
trains  their  patrons  for  association  with  people 
of  the  underworld. 

We  know  of  places  not  a  thousand  miles  from 
Mennonite  communities  where  there  is  common 
talk  of  unsavory  conduct  among  the  young  peo¬ 
ple. 

Such  things  ought  to  at  least  make  honest 
people  think.  And  the  time  to  begin  in  counter¬ 
acting  such  influences  is  before  our  young  people 
are  tainted  with  such  awful  sins.  That  the  tracks 
of  the  underworld  are  seen  among  the  ranks  of 
people  of  reputable  character  is  evident  from  a 
number  of  things.  Our  newspapers  tell  us  about 


56 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


the  happenings  at  public  bathing  resorts,  where 
men  and  women,  boys  and  girls,  two-thirds  nude, 
tumble  around  promiscuously  in  the  waters.  Per¬ 
haps  you  have  seen  sights  like  this — people  pro¬ 
fessing  a  high  standard  of  social  purity  walking 
shamelessly  on  the  streets  of  a  town,  with  lower 
limbs  bared  far  above  the  knees,  walking  to  and 
fro  from  some  public  bathing  resort.  The  pre¬ 
vailing  fashions  which  call  for  bare  arms  and  ex¬ 
posed  bosoms  on  the  part  of  women  and  girls  in 
the  social  circle  and  the  ever-growing  tendency 
of  women  and  girls  to  wear  men’s  clothing  would 
never  be  tolerated  if  it  were  not  for  the  influence 
of  low  standards  of  dress  upon  the  masses. 

Our  object  in  calling  attention  to  these  things 
is  to  stir  up  the  pure  minds  of  our  people,  young 
and  old,  against  such  immoral  influences,  if  per¬ 
chance  some  sleeping  ones  might  be  awakened  to 
the  dangers  confronting  the  rising  generation. 

Influence  of  Literature 

This  is  a  reading  age.  People  read  dozens  of 
books  now  where  they  read  one  a  generation  ago. 
But  the  danger  consists  not  in  the  reading  habit. 
On  the  other  hand,  reading  should  be  encouraged. 
‘'Reading  maketh  a  full  man.”  When  Paul  ad¬ 
monished  Timothy  to  “give  attendance  to  read¬ 
ing,”  he  gave  him  advice  which  all  young  Tim- 
othys  of  the  present  time  should  heed. 

Yes,  “reading  maketh  a  full  man,”  but — full  of 
what?  There  is  the  point  at  issue. 

Whatever  gets  into  the  mind  leaves  its  im- 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


57 


press  upon  the  character.  Keep  this  fact  in  mind, 
and  direct  the  reading  habits  of  your  young  peo¬ 
ple  in  a  channel  that  their  minds  will  be  kept  filled 
with  the  kind  of  things  you  would  like  to  have 
shine  out  in  their  characters,  in  their  lives. 

The  power  of  literature  is  evident  when  we 
consider  the  following: 

Where  church  troubles  exist — whether  indi¬ 
vidual,  congregational,  or  denominational — you  in¬ 
variably  find  trouble-making  literature  in  the 
homes  of  the  communities  affected. 

Many  criminals  get  their  suggestions  in  and 
trace  their  first  steps  downward  to  the  literature 
they  have  read. 

One  typical  illustration  that  now  comes  to 
my  mind  is  the  case  of  a  young  woman,  reared  in 
a  Christian  home,  who  went  wrong  mentally,  mor¬ 
ally,  religiously.  She  traced  her  trouble  to  habit¬ 
ual  novel-reading. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  thousands  who 
have  been  started  upwards  through  the  influence 
of  some  tract,  book,  paper,  the  Bible,  or  other  lit¬ 
erature  leaving  the  right  kind  of  impress  upon  the 
character.  Whether  for  good  or  for  evil,  the  pen 
is  one  of  the  most  powerful  weapons  that  can  be 
placed  in  the  hands  of  man. 

The  danger  connected  with  the  reading  habit 
of  the  present  lies  in  the  fact  that  there  are  so 
many  influences  at  work  encouraging  the  reading 
of  the  wrong  type  of  literature.  The  sensational 
novel,  the  sentimental  love  story,  books  making 
heroes  of  desperadoes  and  libertines,  books  that 


58 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


are  scripturally  unsound,  literature  that  is  written 
in  fascinating  style  but  which  fosters  anti-Biblical 
standards  in  faith  and  life — this  is  the  type  of  lit¬ 
erature  that  comprises  at  least  three-fourths  of  the 
literature  got  out  during  the  last  quarter  cen¬ 
tury  and  engrosses  perhaps  nine-tenths  of  the  time 
devoted  to  reading  by  the  average  reader.  The 
great  body  of  people  who  have  gone  wrong  can 
point  to  the  influence  of  literature  as  one  of  the 
contributing  causes. 

Tell  me  what  you  read,  and  I’ll  tell  you  what 
you  are.  Begin  early  the  work  of  training  your 
children  to  read  the  books  and  papers  that  are  not 
only  interesting  but  ennobling  and  scripturally 
sound  and  adapted  to  their  real  needs,  and  they 
will  be  safeguarded  against  not  only  one  but  a 
number  of  dangers  confronting  them. 

The  Spirit  of  Disloyalty 

It  is  refreshing  to  go  into  communities  where 
children  are  brought  up  in  the  spirit  of  “the  first 
commandment  with  promise,”  and  through  obe¬ 
dience  at  home  are  prepared  for  a  life  of  loyalty 
and  submission  to  constituted  authority,  whether 
in  home,  community,  Church,  or  nation. 

But  unfortunately  there  is  another  spirit  at 
work.  Several  years  ago  a  young  people’s  num¬ 
ber  of  a  certain  paper  fell  into  my  hands.  This 
special  edition  was  edited  by  a  young  man  whom 
the  regular  editor  recommended  as  being  fair- 
minded,  loyal  to  the  Church,  considerate  of  others’ 
feelings,  and  safe  as  a  leader  and  teacher.  On  ex- 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


59 


amining  the  paper  I  found  it  full  of  criticisms  for 
the  old  church,  holding  forth  a  number  of  its  most 
cherished  doctrines  and  standards  of  life  as  being 
impractical  and  out  of  date,  and  very  gravely  serv¬ 
ing  notice  on  the  powers  that  be  in  that  denom¬ 
ination  that  the  new  order  of  affairs  must  rule  if 
the  Church  is  to  prosper — in  short,  it  was  an  ex¬ 
position  of  Modernism  from  beginning  to  end. 

Let  it  not  be  forgotten  that  the  chief  hope  of 
Modernism  is  that  of  turning  young  people  against 
their  elders,  especially  those  who  are  not  minded 
to  look  with  favor  upon  the  present  day  apostasy 
from  the  genuine  Christian  faith.  The  experience 
of  men  of  long  and  faithful  service  is  discredited, 
and  with  combined  flattery  of  young  people  and 
assumption  of  superior  judgment  and  knowledge 
on  the  part  of  the  critics,  a  bold  bid  is  made  to 
young  people  to  turn  from  the  old  to  the  new  or¬ 
der  of  affairs.  Our  own  church  has  not  altogether 
escaped  the  effects  of  such  propaganda. 

One  of  the  most  cunningly  devised  methods 
used  to  bring  about  the  alienation  of  the  affections 
and  loyalty  of  young  people  from  their  church  is  to 
lead  them  to  have  a  perverted  view  of  their  church 
leaders  and  overseers.  In  this  connection  let  me 
set  forth  two  views  of  Church  officials,  bishops, 
leaders,  and  others  in  positions  of  responsibility 
and  authority  in  the  Church : 

1.  One  view  is  that  they  are  human,  like  our¬ 
selves,  having  their  shortcomings,  and  liable  to  err. 
But  along  with  these  imperfections  they  are,  as  a 
class,  God-fearing  men,  standing  for  the  pure  and 


60 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


undefiled  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  consecrated  and 
self-sacrificing,  burdened  for  the  welfare  of  the 
Church,  doing  what  they  can  that  the  cause  of 
Christ  may  prosper  and  that  sinners  may  be  won 
for  Christ,  zealous  in  maintaining  the  purity  and 
faithfulness  of  the  entire  membership,  that  the 
Church  may  prosper  and  be  kept  safe  for  loyal 
submission  to  “all  the  counsel  of  God.” 

2.  The  other  is  that  they  are  self-seekers,  in¬ 
sincere,  designing  politicians;  jealous  of  those  who 
could  manage  the  affairs  of  the  Church  much  bet¬ 
ter  than  they;  dishonest,  narrow,  reactionary",  de¬ 
termined  to  keep  things  in  their  own  hands;  auto¬ 
cratic,  cliquing  together  to  throttle  anything  and 
everything  that  is  not  to  their  own  liking  or  after 
their  own  pattern. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  the  first  view  en¬ 
courages  those  who  hold  it  to  look  with  sympathy 
upon  the  Church  and  its  overseers,  fosters  the 
spirit  of  loyalty  to  the  Church  and  its  enterprises, 
of  loyalty  to  the  Bible  and  to  those  who  have  ded¬ 
icated  their  lives  to  the  cause  of  maintaining  Bible 
standards;  while  the  second  view  (now  whispered 
more  loudly  than  it  used  to  be)  stands  directly  in 
the  way  of  not  only  sympathy  and  loyalty  but 
also  of  unity  with  and  usefulness  to  the  Church  on 
the  part  of  all  who  entertain  it.  Another  fact  just 
as  apparent  to  impartial  observers  is  that  all  who 
entertain  the  second  view  belong  to  one  of  two 
classes ;  They  are  either  out  of  line  with  and  an¬ 
tagonistic  to  the  standards  of  the  Church  with 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


61 


reference  to  doctrine  and  life,  or  they  are  under 
the  influence  of  those  who  are. 

We  owe  it  as  a  duty  to  our  young  people  to 
give  them  a  correct  and  sympathetic  view  of  their 
Church — of  its  doctrines,  its  different  lines  of  ac¬ 
tivity,  its  institutions,  its  conferences,  its  over¬ 
seers,  its  leaders,  its  burden-bearers,  its  young 
people,  its  efforts  to  keep  the  whole  body  in  the 
faith  of  the  Gospel  and  service  of  Jesus  Christ,  its 
endeavors  to  bring  the  Gospel  of  Christ  to  all  peo¬ 
ple.  Let  parents,  preachers,  teachers,  and  leaders 
in  the  various  activities  of  the  Church  do  their 
full  duty  along  this  line,  and  our  young  people 
will  be  saved  from  the  blighting,  paralyzing,  soul- 
destroying  effect  of  the  spirit  of  CRITICISM  so 
prevalent  at  the  present  time.  The  spirit  of  dis¬ 
satisfaction  is  the  hotbed  where  more  dissatisfac¬ 
tion  is  hatched  out.  “Like  begets  like.” 

Spiritual  Indifference 

This  world  is  moving  at  a  tremendously  rapid 
rate.  With  our  automobiles,  radios,  modern  con¬ 
veniences  in  the  home,  high  taxes  to  keep  up 
roads,  schools,  and  war  expenses,  luxuries  without 
number,  we  must  put  in  all  available  time  to 
“make  ends  meet”  financially.  This,  added  to 
world  attractions,  is  responsible  for  a  widespread 
neglect  of  spiritual  duties  and  means  of  grace, 
which  accounts  for  much  of  the  spiritual  indiffer¬ 
ence  of  today.  In  many  homes,  communities,  and 
churches  religion  is  little  more  than  a  mere  form, 
and  children  are  allowed  to  grow  up  with  their 


62 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


spiritual  training  neglected.  In  the  general  indif¬ 
ference  to  matters  spiritual,  as  compared  with  a 
correspondingly  great  interest  in  the  things  of  this 
world,  we  find  one  of  the  greatest  dangers  to  the 
rising  generation. 

*  *  * 

Do  you  call  this  a  dark  picture  of  present 
world  conditions?  So  do  I.  But  every  one  who 
has  made  a  study  of  these  things  knows  that  the 
picture  is  not  overdrawn — knows  that  these  threat¬ 
ening  evils  exist,  and  that  the  language  used  in 
warning  against  them  is  mild  compared  with  what 
might  have  been  said  and  still  remain  within  the 
bounds  of  truth.  Don’t  say  that  there  is  no  dan¬ 
ger.  Don’t  make  the  inexcusable  blunder  of  try¬ 
ing  to  throw  our  young  people  off  their  guard, 
through  flattery  and  vain  neglect,  and  thus  lead 
some  of  them  to  believe  that  they  are  too  intelli¬ 
gent  and  well  fortified  to  be,  concerned  about  with¬ 
standing  the  temptations  which  are  the  common 
lot  of  men  to  face.  “Let  him  that  thinketh  he 
standeth  take  heed  lest  he  fall.”  We  have  seen 
too  many  of  our  young  people  (bright  ones  along 
with  the  dull  ones)  and  too  many  older  people  as 
well  whom  everybody  thought  were  well  estab¬ 
lished  in  character  and  knowledge,  fall  victims  to 
the  world’s  vain  allurements  because  they  permit¬ 
ted  these  ravening  wolves  in  sheeps’  clothing  to 
slip  up  on  the  blind  side  of  them  and  carry  them 
away  into  lives  of  ungodliness  and  folly. 

“What  I  say  unto  you,  I  say  unto  you  all,  Watch.” 

But  while  we  recognize  that  “the  whole  world 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


63 


lieth  in  wickedness,”  we  also  bear  in  mind  the 
many  promises  of  God  to  care  for  His  own.  It  is 
not  for  us,  therefore,  to  take  a  pessimistic  attitude 
and  make  no  effort  to  maintain  the  purity  of  our 
faith  and  to  hold  our  young  people  for  God  and 
the  Church.  God  has  manifested  His  power  and 
His  grace  on  numberless  occasions,  and  there  is 
no  reason  why  we  should  falter  in  the  sacred 
charge  committed  to  us  with  reference  to  our 
young  people.  They  present  to  us  the  three-fold 
appeal  of  (1)  the  preciousness  of  their  souls,  (2) 
the  satisfaction  of  their  associations  and  help,  and 
(3)  the  fact  that  in  them  rests  the  salvation  of 
the  future  Church.  Given  a  good  chance,  the  body 
of  them  will  remain  true,  pure,  loyal,  and  will  not 
disappoint  us  in  what  we  expect  of  them.  Next  to 
God,  we  live  for  them;  that  He  through  them  may 
send  the  message  of  salvation  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth  and  hand  it  down  to  generations  yet  unborn. 

But  let  none  of  us  be  lulled  to  sleep  in  the 
delusive  hope  that  our  young  people  have  a  good 
chance  in  life  so  long  as  the  dangers  herein  point¬ 
ed  out  are  ignored.  We  must  face  the  facts  as 
they  are.  We  who  are  older  must  not  only  set  ex¬ 
amples  of  true  Christian  piety  and  consistent  daily 
living,  but  we  must  be  awake,  alert,  and  while 
calm  and  trustful  we  must  not  forget  to  sound  the 
note  of  warning  in  every  time  pf  danger.  As  tour¬ 
ists  speeding  along  the  public  highways  ought  to 
be  very  grateful  for  the  many  danger  signals  along 
the  way,  so  ought  our  young  people  be  grateful 
for  the  danger  signals  held  forth  by  men  and 


64 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


women  who  have  traveled  the  way  before  and 
know  there  is  danger  at  every  curve.  Let  the 
training  of  our  children  begin  with  infancy  and 
continue  until  they  have  arrived  at  maturity  in 
years  and  understanding  and  the  responsibilities 
of  life  are  resting  upon  their  shoulders.  Then,  un¬ 
der  the  providence  of  God,  having  been  taught 
the  way  of  life,  being  trained  in  Christian  life  and 
service,  being  forearmed  because  forewarned,  and 
having  learned  not  to  trifle  with  sin,  we  expect 
them  to  be 

“ . no  more  children,  tossed  to  and  fro,  and 

carried  about  with  every  wind  of  doctrine,  by  the 
sleight  of  men,  and  cunning  craftiness,  whereby  they 
lie  in  wait  to  deceive;  but  speaking  the  truth  in  love, 
may  grow  up  into  him  in  all  things,” 

and  as  pillars  of  the  faith  and  service  withstand 
the  temptations  of  this  world.  With  the  full  ar¬ 
mor  of  God  as  our  protection,  the  many  promises 
of  God  as  our  encouragement,  and  the  Holy  Ghost 
as  our  Comforter  and  Guide,  there  is  no  reason 
why  we  should  not  face  the  future  with  hope,  hav¬ 
ing  the  blessed  assurance  that  our  “labor  is  not  in 
vain  in  the  Lord.”  As  light  always  dispels  dark¬ 
ness,  so  “Let  there  be  light”  in  every  individual 
heart,  in  every  home,  in  every  community  where 
God  has  any  people  through  whom  this  light  may 
shine. 

In  succeeding  chapters  we  shall  discuss  these 
matters  in  greater  detail,  showing  what  may  be 
done  by  the  Church,  by  the  Christian  home,  by 
our  mission  boards,  by  our  publication  interests, 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


65 


and  by  our  schools  to  build  up  and  prepare  our 
young  people  for  service,  to  strengthen  the  Church 
and  extend  its  borders,  to  carry  the  Gospel  of 
Christ  into  the  dark  corners  of  earth.  Let  each  of 
these  do  their  full  part  in  the  heaven-approved 
way,  and  our  problems  will  be  well  on  their  way 
to  a  happy  solution. 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


The  discussions  in  this  chapter  will  not  be 
very  much  different  from  what  they  would  be  had 
we  taken  some  other  denominational  name  as  the 
chapter  head.  Many  of  the  issues  before  us  are 
similar  to  those  confronting  any  other  evangelical 
denomination.  But  because  our  readers  will  be 
largely  Mennonite  it  is  the  Mennonite  Church 
that  we  have  in  mind  when  we  say,  “The  Church.” 

Every  church  has  its  standard,  its  ideals  of 
doctrine,  life,  and  service.  You  ask  the  average 
Mennonite  what  he  thinks  the  Mennonite  stand¬ 
ard  should  be,  and  you  are  likely  to  get  something 
like  this  for  your  answer: 

1.  A  church  whose  standards  are  identical 
with  the  standard  of  the  Gospel. 

2.  A  membership  composed  of  people  who 
have  been  “born  again,”  whose  daily  record  gives 
evidence  of  purity,  holiness,  devotion  to  truth  and 
righteousness,  desire  to  be  of  use  to  others. 

3.  An  aggressive  missionary  spirit  having 
for  its  purpose  the  preaching  of  “the  gospel  to 
every  creature,”  to  “all  nations.” 

4.  The  bringing  up  and  training  of  our 
young  people  to  the  end  that  this  same  standard 
may  be  maintained  in  succeeding  generations. 

This  chapter  will  be  devoted  to  a  discussion 
of  the  question,  What  can  the  Mennonite  Church 
do  in  the  way  of  maintaining  this  standard? 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


67 


Faithfulness  to  the  Head 

Recognizing  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Head  of  the 
Church  (according  to  Scripture)  there  can  be  no 
proper  functioning  of  the  body  without  a  proper 
recognition,  by  the  members  of  this  body,  of  the 
place  and  office  which  naturally  belongs  to  this 
Head,  “that  in  all  things  he  might  have  the  pre¬ 
eminence/’  This  means — 

1.  An  exaltation  of  Christ  in  our  own  hearts 
and  before  the  eyes  of  the  people. 

2.  Obedience  to  all  His  commandments,  sub¬ 
mission  to  His  will. 

3.  Acceptance  of  the  entire  Gospel  of  Christ, 
making  that  the  rule  of  our  lives. 

4.  Rejection  of  everything  that  is  contrary 
to  this  Gospel. 

5.  Maintaining  the  standard  of  the  Gospel 
wherever  we  go,  with  our  lives  upon  the  altar  of 
service,  seeking  to  improve  every  opportunity  to 
win  souls  for  Christ  and  build  them  up  in  Christ. 

Proper  Church  Organization 

In  writing  to  the  Church  at  Ephesus  on  this 
subject,  Paul  says: 

“And  he  (God)  gave  some,  apostles;  and  some, 
prophets;  and  some,  evangelists;  and  some,  pastors 
and  teachers;  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints,  for  the 
work  of  the  ministry,  for  the  edifying  of  the  body 
of  Christ:  till  we  all  come  in  the  unity  of  the  faith, 
and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God,  unto  a  per¬ 
fect  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  ful¬ 
ness  of  Christ:  that  we  henceforth  be  no  more  chil¬ 
dren,  tossed  to  and  fro,  and  carried  about  with  every 


68 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


wind  of  doctrine,  by  the  sleight  of  men,  and  cunning 
craftiness,  whereby  they  lie  in  wait  to  deceive;  but 
speaking  the  truth  in  love,  may  grow  up  into  him  in 
all  things,  which  is  the  head,  even  Christ:  from  whom 
the  whole  body  fitly  joined  together  and  compacted 
by  that  which  every  joint  supplieth,  according  to  the 
effectual  measure  of  every  part,  maketh  increase  of 
the  body  unto  the  edifying  of  itself  in  love.” 

This  wonderful  declaration  must  be  prayerful¬ 
ly  studied  before  it  can  be  appreciated  or  under¬ 
stood.  Notice — 

1.  That  God  is  the  Author  of  Church  organ¬ 
ization. 

2.  That  while  the  Church  casts  her  voice 
and  elders  lay  on  hands,  ordained  men,  if  set  apart 
according  to  Scripture,  get  their  call  and  commis¬ 
sion  from  God  who  works  through  the  instrumen¬ 
tality  of  the  Church. 

3.  That  Church  organization  is  simply  a 
means  to  an  end — the  edification  of  the  Church 
and  strengthening  of  every  member,  a  proper  in¬ 
doctrination  of  members  and  growth  of  the  body — 
and  not  an  end  in  itself. 

4.  That  “unity  of  the  Spirit”  and  “unity  of 
the  faith”  are  the  natural  results  of  proper  organi¬ 
zation  and  care. 

5.  That  we  may  look  for  growth  “in  all 
things”  when  God  has  His  full  way  in  the  organi¬ 
zation  and  work  of  the  Church. 

Every  church  is  properly  organized  when 
scriptural  methods  are  used,  when  there  is  actual 
need  for  every  official  chosen,  when  the  leadership 
of  faithful  overseers  is  recognized  on  the  part  of 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


69 


the  membership,  when  proper  provision  is  made 
for  work  for  every  member. 

Proper  Pastoral  Oversight 

Christ  as  “the  Good  Shepherd”  has  His  rep¬ 
resentatives  in  the  overseers  of  the  churches.  Their 
duties  are  thus  enjoined  upon  them  by  the  be¬ 
loved  apostles,  Paul  and  Peter: 

“Preach  the  word;  be  instant  in  season,  out  of 
season;  reprove,  rebuke,  exhort  with  all  longsuffering 

and  doctrine . Watch  thou  in  all  things,  endure 

afflictions,  do  the  work  of  an  evangelist,  make  full 
proof  of  thy  ministry” 

“Take  heed  therefore  unto  yourselves,  and  to  all 
the  flock,  over  the  which  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  made 
you  overseers,  to  feed  the  church  of  God,  which  he 
hath  purchased  with  his  own  blood.” 

“Feed  the  flock  of  God  which  is  among  you,  tak¬ 
ing  the  oversight  thereof,  not  by  constraint,  but  will¬ 
ingly;  not  for  filthy  lucre,  but  of  a  ready  mind; 
neither  as  being  lords  over  God’s  heritage,  but  being 
ensamples  to  the  flock.” 

A  minister’s  work  is  not  completed  when  he 
delivers  his  weekly  messages  to  the  congregation. 
“Taking  the  oversight  thereof,”  means  a  prayerful 
study  of  his  congregation  as  well  as  of  the  Bible, 
that  proper  food  may  be  handed  out  over  the  pul¬ 
pit.  It  means  a  vigilant  care  over  the  flock,  help¬ 
ing  those  in  difficulty,  encouraging  the  faithful, 
strengthening  the  weak,  befriending  those  under 
temptation.  The  faithful  overseer  watches  over 
his  flock,  keeps  the  sheep  and  lambs  on  nourishing 
pasture,  looks  for  opportunities,  maintains  a  vigi¬ 
lant  lookout  for  enemies,  goes  after  those  who 


70 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


have  wandered  away  on  forbidden  pastures  or  in¬ 
to  dangerous  places.  Let  the  membership  stand 
together  and  see  to  it  that  it  is  financially  and 
physically  possible  for  their  overseer  to  do  these 
things  without  hindrance. 

Proper  Home  Training 

Of  this  we  shall  speak  in  the  next  chapter. 
Suffice  it  to  say  here  that  the  condition  of  the 
average  home  is  an  accurate  index  to  the  condition 
of  the  Church.  Let  ministers  and  members  co¬ 
operate  in  the  effort  to  maintain  conditions  in 
each  home  favorable  to  the  development  of  Chris¬ 
tian  character,  the  spirit  of  loyalty  to  home  and 
Church,  and  proper  respect  for  constituted  au¬ 
thority.  This  done  in  every  home,  and  the  load 
of  the  Church  is  considerably  lightened. 

Proper  Discipline 

No  church  can  hope  to  prosper  long  without 
the  exercise  of  faithful  discipline  among  its  mem¬ 
bers.  Where  children  are  denied  the  privilege  of 
a  wholesome,  restraining  discipline,  they  usually 
“grow  up  wild.”  The  same  is  true  of  members  in 
any  church. 

Discipline  includes  more  than  punishment  for 
evil-doing.  But  where  evil-doing  is  present,  and 
there  is  no  attempt  to  correct,  there  is  a  demor¬ 
alizing  influence  present  that  can  not  fail  to  break 
down  the  morale  among  the  membership.  Of  this 
we  have  a  number  of  vivid  illustrations  in  the 
Church  at  the  present  time.  It  is  in  congregations 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


71 


and  communities  where  there  was  the  greatest 
disposition  to  be  “lenient”  with  disobedient  mem¬ 
bers  that  the  greatest  difficulty  is  found  in  keep¬ 
ing  members  loyal  in  the  Church.  “A  stitch  in 
time  saves  nine.”  One  excommunication  ten  years 
ago  might  have  saved  the  necessity  for  excom¬ 
municating  ten  members  today. 

Church  discipline,  to  be  effective,  must  be 
stable  as  well  as  scriptural.  To  be  scriptural  a 
conference  or  congregational  rule  need  not  be 
couched  in  the  exact  language  of  Scripture  but  it 
must  not  be  anti-scriptural  and,  to  be  of  value, 
must  be  an  application  of  some  scriptural  truth 
or  principle.  No  loyal  member  will  withstand  the 
Church  so  long  as  it  follows  this  rule.  But  no 
rule,  however  excellent  and  scriptural,  is  of  much 
value  unless  it  is  obeyed.  It  is  an  evidence  of 
weakness  for  a  congregation  or  church  to  waver 
whenever  it  has  one  or  more  unruly  members  on 
hand ;  and  very  demoralizing  when  members  gen¬ 
erally  are  disposed  to  take  the  side  of  the  trans¬ 
gressor  as  against  the  Church  when  it  undertakes 
to  discipline  an  unruly  member. 

The  Bible  has  three  rules  that  will  be  suffi¬ 
cient  to  handle  all  personal  difficulties  in  the 
Church,  provided  that  in  all  cases  the  application 
is  made  in  faith  and  in  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel. 
You  will  find  them  in  Matt.  5:23,24,  Matt.  18:15- 
17,  and  Gal.  6:1,2.  And  let  it  never  be  forgotten 
that  to  tolerate  in  the  Church  members  who  are 
wilfully  disobedient  means  to  nurse  an  influence 


72 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


that  sooner  or  later  will  develop  into  sedition  and 
anarchy. 

That  church  is  governed  best  where  discipline 
is  regarded  as  a  training  and  restraining  influence 
rather  than  merely  a  punishment  for  evil-doing. 
We  need  rules,  and  those  violating  them  should 
be  made  to  feel  the  gravity  of  their  sins ;  but  bet¬ 
ter  still  is  the  restraining  influence  and  training 
which  keeps  us  in  our  proper  places  so  completely 
that  we  need  never  feel  the  lash  of  the  law  be¬ 
cause  of  our  disobedience.  The  law  is  for  the 
lawless ;  but  grace  is  reserved  for  those  who  have 
a  desire  to  know  and  to  do  God's  will. 

Proper  Indoctrination 

Here  are  a  few  quotations  from  Scripture 
showing  an  ideal  state  of  indoctrination  as  viewed 
from  the  standpoint  of  inspired  writers : 

“These  were  more  noble  than  those  in  Thessa- 
lonica,  in  that  they  received  the  word  with  all  readi¬ 
ness  of  mind,  and  searched  the  scriptures  daily." 

“Take  heed  unto  thyself,  and  unto  the  doctrine; 
continue  in  them:  for  in  doing  this  thou  shalt  both 
save  thyself,  and  them  that  hear  thee." 

“For  the  perfecting  of  the  saints,  for  the  work 
of  the  ministry,  for  the  edifying  of  the  body  of 
Christ;  till  we  all  come  in  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and 
of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God." 

“Give  attendance  to  reading,  to  exhortation,  to 
doctrine." 

“Be  ready  always  to  give  an  answer  to  every  man 
that  asketh  you  a  reason  of  the  hope  that  is  in  you 
with  meekness  and  fear." 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


73 


“Thy  word  have  I  hid  in  my  heart,  that  I  might 

not  sin  against  thee.” 

As  Mennonites  we  ought  to  be  able  to  tell — 

Why  we  united  with  the  Mennonite  Church, 
and  not  some  other  church ; 

Why  we  believe  in  a  Triune  God — Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost; 

Why  we  believe  in  living  a  pure,  simple,  sin¬ 
less,  holy,  consecrated  life ; 

Why  we  believe  in  the  distinctive  doctrines 
of  our  church — such  as  baptism  by  pouring, 
“close”  communion,  feet  washing,  the  Christian 
woman’s  devotional  covering,  nonconformity,  non- 
resistance,  non-secrecy — and  many  other  things 
which  the  Bible  teaches  and  to  which  Christian 
people  should  be  ready  to  testify  whenever  called 
upon. 

These  things  should  be  on  our  tongues’  end, 
not  merely  because  they  are  “Mennonite  doctrine,” 
but  because  they  are  a  part  of  the  “all  scripture” 
which  we  are  taught  is  “profitable  for  doctrine” 
and  fill  an  important  place  in  the  plan  and  knowl¬ 
edge  and  work  of  God. 

Proper  indoctrination  includes  more  than  a 
knowledge  and  acceptance  of  the  tenets  of  faith 
peculiar  to  one’s  own  church.  It  means  a  whole¬ 
some  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  so  far  as  man 
is  able  to  grasp  them;  that  the  Word  of  God  has 
a  prominent  place  in  the  hearts  and  lives  of  the 
membership.  A  faithful  effort  should  be  made  in 
every  congregation,  in  every  home,  in  the  individ- 


74 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


ual  efforts  of  every  member  to  have  an  under¬ 
standing,  working  knowledge  of  the  Bible.  It 
means  better  Christians ;  it  means  more  effective 
workers.  Every  preacher,  after  a  number  of  years’ 
experience,  ought  to  be  able  to  say,  “I  have  not 
shunned  to  declare  unto  you  all  the  counsel  of 
God.”  Wholesome  teaching  from  the  pulpit,  in 
the  Sunday  school  class,  in  other  religious  meet¬ 
ings,  in  the  home  circle,  and  wherever  there  is 
opportunity  will  bring  about  a  scriptural  indoc¬ 
trination  that  includes  the  whole  Bible  from  end 
to  end.  This,  backed  up  by  consistent  living,  will 
mean  a  power  in  every  community  where  this  is 
faithfully  done. 

Proper  Conservation  of  Forces 

“Forces”  here  includes  people,  means,  and  op¬ 
portunities.  In  every  congregation  there  should  be 
an  honest,  earnest,  consecrated,  continual  effort 
made  to  keep  every  member,  every  dollar  within 
our  stewardship,  and  every  opportunity  to  advance 
the  cause  of  Christ,  upon  the  altar  of  the  Lord. 
This  means — 

1.  That  there  should  be  a  place  for  every 
member,  and  every  member  in  his  place. 

2.  That  every  dollar  spent  should  be  so 
placed  that  we  can  honestly  say  that  we  believe 
that  it  was  spent  for  the  most  needy  purpose  and 
in  the  best  way,  under  the  circumstances. 

3.  That  a  united,  untiring  effort  should  be 
made  to  enlist  the  interest  and  services  of  indiffer¬ 
ent  members. 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


75 


4.  That  special  attention  should  be  given  to 
young  people,  that  they  may  be  started  right  and 
kept  going  in  the  right  direction. 

5.  That  no  opportunity  should  be  lost  to 
win  those  who  are  not  of  our  fold  but  who  right¬ 
fully  belong  there. 

You  strengthen  the  congregation  when  you 
put  every  member  and  every  dollar  in  his  posses¬ 
sion  to  talking  for  God.  And  when  you  strength¬ 
en  the  congregation  you  also  strengthen  the 
Church  at  large. 

There  is  a  double  advantage  in  keeping  your 
young  people  busy  along  lines  which  will  add 
something  to  stability  of  character  and  knowledge 
of  God’s  Word.  It  affords  an  outlet  for  surplus 
energy  and  means  a  development  that  adds  to 
capacity  for  service.  It  means  that  many  more 
active  workers  for  God  and  the  Church  and  thus 
strengthens  the  cause.  Some  of  the  things  to  en¬ 
courage  in  every  congregation  are  weekly  Bible 
classes,  mission  study  classes,  teacher  training 
classes,  community  singings  (which  measure  up 
to  the  spirit  of  I  Cor.  10:31),  Sunday  schools  in 
neglected  nearby  fields,  and  every  other  kind  of 
gathering  which  is  conducive  to  spiritual  growth 
and  the  building  up  of  a  sturdy  Christian  charac¬ 
ter.  From  this  variety  of  activities  every  congre¬ 
gation  should  be  able  to  choose  one  or  more  lines 
of  service  that  ought  to  keep  the  workers  em¬ 
ployed  at  something  the  year  round.  While  such 
forms  of  activity  serve  as  an  excellent  antidote 
for  activities  that  are  ruinous  to  the  character 


76 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


and  destructive  to  spiritual  life,  they  ought  to  be 
encouraged  for  what  they  contribute  to  young 
people  rather  than  as  expedients  to  keep  them  out 
of  trouble. 


Aggressive  Evangelism 

A  proper  conservation  of  forces  is  impossible 
unless  we  have  a  distinct  object  in  view.  The 
miser  who  hoards  his  gold  and  never  lets  it  go 
out  of  its  chest  is  as  distinct  a  failure  as  is  the 
man  who  never  succeeds  in  getting  any  money  to 
hoard.  In  like  manner,  the  church  that  piles  up 
members  without  an  attempt  to  use  this  combined 
membership  in  a  heaven-directed  effort  to  win 
lost  souls  for  God  is  as  distinct  a  failure,  in  God’s 
sight,  as  is  the  church  that  fails  to  add  to  its  mem¬ 
bership.  Andrew  did  the  practical  thing  when  he 
brought  his  brother  Peter  to  Christ;  Philip,  when 
he  brought  Nathaniel;  Philip  the  evangelist,  when 
he  guided  the  Ethiopian  eunuch  into  the  way  of 
salvation;  the  church  in  Mary’s  house,  when  it 
prayed  Peter  out  of  prison;  Aquila  and  Priscilla, 
when  they  showed  the  eloquent  Apollos  the  way 
of  the  Lord  more  perfectly.  In  every  community 
there  is  enough  work — in  the  way  of  visiting  the 
sick,  caring  for  the  needy,  doing  personal  work 
with  the  sinner,  arousing  the  indifferent,  getting 
non-attendants  to  church,  supporting  the  weak, 
carrying  the  light  into  neglected  places  in  nearby 
fields,  preparing  one’s  self  for  more  efficient  work, 
encouraging  and  strengthening  one  another  in 
Christian  fellowship — to  keep  all  members  busy  at 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


77 


all  times.  And  if,  perchance,  there  should  be  more 
members  in  any  community  than  there  is  work 
to  do  there,  there  are  too  many  needy  communities 
where  more  workers  are  needed,  to  justify  any 
member  in  settling  down  in  a  life  of  ease  and 
self-indulgence.  Let  the  consecrated  members 
who  find  themselves  without  anything  to  do  move 
into  some  needy  community. 

In  every  community  there  should  be  an  ag¬ 
gressive  evangelism,  a  continual  working  for  the 
Lord,  at  all  times.  It  means  not  only  the  winning 
of  the  lost  but  the  strengthening  of  those  who 
are  already  in  the  fold.  The  periodic  revival 
meeting  should  be  both  a  harvest  of  grain  result¬ 
ing  from  a  year  of  seed-sowing  and  a  preparation 
for  another  long  season  of  seed-sowing  to  follow. 
Successful  evangelism  means  more  than  getting 
people  into  the  Church;  it  means,  also,  the  build¬ 
ing  up  of  those  already  in  the  fold. 

Freedom  From  Entangling  Alliances 

“Be  ye  also  enlarged,”  said  Paul  just  before 
counseling  a  course  of  action  which  the  average 
churchman  pronounces  very  “narrow”  and  “small.” 
Here  is  the  advice :  “Be  ye  not  unequally  yoked 
together  with  unbelievers,”  following  this  declara¬ 
tion  of  Christian  freedom  with  a  number  of  search¬ 
ing  questions : 

What  fellowship  hath  righteousness  with  unrighteous¬ 
ness? 

What  communion  hath  light  with  darkness? 

What  concord  hath  Christ  with  Belial? 


78 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


What  part  hath  he  that  believeth  with  an  infidel? 

What  agreement  hath  the  temple  of  God  with  idols? 

One  of  the  greatest  of  modern  curses  is  the 
disposition  of  individuals  and  of  churches  to  com¬ 
promise  with  evil.  In  this  spirit  of  compromise 
we  find  believer  and  unbeliever  yoked  together 
in  marriage,  in  business  partnerships,  in  the  secret 
lodge,  in  fraternal  organizations,  in  politics,  in  the 
social  circle.  In  this  same  spirit  we  find  churches 
that  formerly  were  solid  on  the  fundamentals  of 
the  Christian  faith  yoked  up  with  more  liberal 
churches  in  church  federations.  Such  alliances 
are  not  only  contrary  to  God’s  Word  but  they  are 
the  most  fruitful  causes  of  leading  the  faithful 
away  from  the  whole-Bible  foundation,  crippling 
them  in  power  for  service  and  entangling  them 
in  positively  unscriptural  enterprises  and  practices. 
Professing  great  admiration  for  the  spirit  of  “tol¬ 
eration,”  federationists  are  very  tolerant  with 
every  popular  error  that  seems  to  offer  advan¬ 
tages — and  the  more  tolerant  they  become  toward 
error,  the  more  intolerant  they  are  toward  those 
who  maintain  the  genuine  Christian  faith.  If  the 
Mennonite  Church  is  wise,  it  will  never  allow 
itself  to  be  drawn  into  the  maelstrom  of  present 
day  church  federation.  Having  a  distinct  mission 
to  perform  and  holding  to  a  number  of  clearly 
taught  Bible  doctrines  which  popular  churches 
oppose,  we  can  do  nothing  better  than  to  stand  for 
these  distinctive  doctrines,  remembering  that  we 
as  a  church  have  a  work  that  is  distinctively  our 
own.  This  we  can  do  and  still  be  neighborly  and 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


79 


sympathetic  toward  other  bodies  which,  in  their 
own  way,  are  standing  for  things  which  they 
believe  the  Bible  enjoins. 

The  doctrines  which  Christ  proclaimed  were 
not  popular  in  His  day,  and  these  same  truths  are 
as  unpopular  today  as  they  were  then.  In  a  fed¬ 
eration  of  churches,  therefore,  we  would  have 
everything  to  lose  and  nothing  to  gain.  The  only 
ground  upon  which  churches  can  federate  is  to 
unite  upon  the  full  Gospel  of  Christ,  in  the  unity 
of  the  faith  and  of  the  Spirit,  making  Gospel 
truth  rather  than  the  elimination  of  denomination¬ 
al  differences  the  basis  for  such  union. 

The  Spirit  of  Loyalty 

should  be  cultivated  in  every  congregation,  in 
every  home,  in  every  individual  member.  During 
the  Russo-Japanese  War  an  organization  of  Rus¬ 
sian  Nihilist  students  sent  a  long  message  to  the 
mikado  of  Japan  expressing  sympathy  with  Japan 
in  the  struggle.  The  old  emperor  replied,  thank¬ 
ing  them  for  their  sympathy,  and  then  closed  by 
thanking  God  that  he  had  no  such  subjects.  Ja¬ 
pan  won  the  war,  largely  because  of  the  loyalty 
of  the  Japanese  and  the  disloyalty  of  the  Rus¬ 
sians.  In  like  manner,  a  church  is  usually  suc¬ 
cessful  or  unsuccessful,  depending  upon  whether 
its  members  are  loyal  or  disloyal. 

For  the  sake  of  the  individual  membeis,  for 
the  sake  of  the  congregation,  for  the  sake  of  the 
Church  at  large,  for  the  sake  of  power  with  God 
and  man  in  the  work  of  winning  the  lost  to  Jesus, 


80 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


it  is  important  that  the  spirit  of  loyalty  be  fos¬ 
tered  among  the  members,  be  they  few  or  many. 
Let  our  loyalty  to  Christ  keep  us  in  an  obedient 
attitude  toward  Him,  in  a  frame  of  mind  and 
heart  to  study  and  appreciate  His  Gospel;  our 
loyalty  to  the  Church  keep  us  in  a  friendly  atti¬ 
tude  toward  its  doctrines  and  its  enterprises;  our 
loyalty  to  the  constituted  authorities  in  the  Church 
keep  us  in  an  attitude  of  hearty  support  of  what¬ 
ever  they  undertake  in  harmony  with  the  Word  of 
God  and  the  voice  of  the  Church.  We  know  of 
no  better  way  of  cultivating  this  spirit  of  loyalty 
than  to  make  the  Bible,  the  Church,  our  home 
congregations,  our  church  institutions,  and  the 
enterprises  of  the  Church  subjects  of  frequent  con¬ 
versation  and  prayer.  When  every  member  in  the 
Church  is  in  a  mood  to  put  on  the  whole  armor 
of  God  and  fight  the  good  fight  of  faith  in  fellow¬ 
ship  and  harmony  with  the  other  members  of  the 
Church,  we  may  expect  a  revival  wave  which 
will  sweep  many  souls  into  the  Kingdom  of  our 
Lord. 

To  maintain  the  spirit  of  loyalty  among  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  members  it  is  essential  that 
the  Church  be  kept  under  the  oversight  and  lead¬ 
ership  of  loyal  men.  One  disloyal  man  at  the 
head  of  a  congregation  or  institution  can  do  more 
harm  than  dozens  of  faithful  men  in  the  ranks  are 
able  to  undo.  Let  diligent  care  be  exercised, 
therefore,  that  our  congregations  and  institutions 
are  kept  under  the  leadership  of  God-called  men 
who  are  not  only  not  antagonistic  toward  their 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


81 


church  but  who  from  the  heart  honestly  believe 
the  things  which  the  Church  teaches  and  are  in 
harmony  with  its  discipline.  It  is  seldom  that 
you  see  a  divided  church  where  there  is  a  united 
leadership. 

Progress  During  the  Past  Half  Century 

Is  our  church  making  progress?  In  some 
ways,  yes;  in  other  ways,  no.  During  the  past 
half  century  there  has  been  a  remarkable  growth 
in  effective  organization  and  aggressive  Christian 
work.  This  growth  might  have  been  still  more 
marked  had  the  spirit  of  loyalty  to  the  doctrinal 
standards  and  ideals  of  the  Mennonite  Church 
kept  pace  with  the  progress  along  other  lines. 

Our  general  Mission  Board  has  grown  from 
an  evangelizing  committee  in  1882  to  the  present 
Mennonite  Board  of  Missions  and  Charities,  which 
organization  is  now  'supported  by  a  district  Mis¬ 
sion  Board  in  each  of  our  conference  districts. 
Under  its  auspices  (including  also  a  number  of 
institutions  supported  by  district  organizations) 
mission  stations  and  conferences  have  been  organ¬ 
ized  in  two  foreign  countries,  organized  mission 
work  is  carried  on  in  fifteen  cities  in  the  home 
land,  organized  charitable  work  is  carried  on  in 
seven  institutions,  and,  in  co-operation  with  the 
Mennonite  Relief  Commission  for  War  Sufferers, 
relief  work  has  been  and  is  supported  by  workers 
and  means  in  a  number  of  war-stricken  countries. 

What  is  true  of  the  expansion  of  missionary 
activities  in  the  Church  is  true  also  of  the  publi- 


82 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


cation  and  educational  interests.  It  was  in  1907 
when  the  Mennonite  Publication  Board  was  or¬ 
ganized,  and  the  following  spring  the  publication 
interests  of  the  Church  were  taken  over  by  that 
body.  Since  that  time  the  value  of  the  Mennonite 
Publishing  House  has  increased  from  about  $20, 
000  to  $235,000,  and  our  publications  have  more 
than  doubled,  both  in  the  number  of  publications 
and  in  the  extent  of  their  circulation.  A  similar 
growth  may  be  recorded  in  our  educational  inter¬ 
ests,  as  will  be  shown  in  a  succeeding  chapter. 

Let  no  one  get  the  idea,  however,  that  there 
has  been  an  uninterrupted  growth  without  any 
reverses.  There  never  has  been  a  case  of  over¬ 
coming  without  a  struggle,  no  struggle  without 
losses.  Churches  have  been  abandoned,  missions 
have  been  closed,  members  have  forsaken  the 
faith,  strife  has  hindered  progress,  congregations 
have  dwindled  in  numbers,  not  one  of  our  church 
activities  but  that  has  met  with  opposition  and  at 
times  suffered  reverses. 

But  taking  the  Church  as  a  whole,  as  already 
noted,  there  has  been  a  substantial  growth.  Not¬ 
withstanding  the  many  brethren  and  sisters  called 
to  their  eternal  home,  there  has  been  an  increase 
in  membership.  Some  of  the  losses  noted  are  ac¬ 
counted  for  by  a  transfer  of  labors  from  one  field 
to  another.  Our  sphere  of  activities  is  expanding, 
and  as  our  workers  are  becoming  more  familiar 
with  their  tasks  their  efficiency  is  increasing.  O- 
pen  doors  are  before  us,  and  may  our  daily  pray¬ 
ers  ascend  to  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  to  the  end 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


83 


that  laborers  and  means  may  be  forthcoming  to 
enter  them.  The  fact  that,  as  a  rule,  where  su¬ 
perintendents  and  others  in  charge  of  our  Church 
enterprises  were  sound  in  the  faith,  loyal  to  the 
Church,  scripturally  qualified  to  fill  their  places, 
and  untiring  in  their  efforts  there  has  been  sub¬ 
stantial  work  accomplished  for  the  Master,  ought 
to  give  us  courage  to  press  on,  looking  heaven¬ 
ward  for  results  and  for  our  inspiration  and  hope 
of  eternal  reward. 

One  of  the  most  powerful  factors  in  promot¬ 
ing  the  interests  of  the  cause  of  Christ  through  the 
instrumentality  of  the  Mennonite  Church  is  the 
Mennonite  General  Conference.  This  body  was 
organized  at  a  preliminary  meeting  held  near  Eli- 
da,  Ohio,  in  1897,  its  first  regular  meeting  was 
held  near  Wakarusa,  Indiana,  in  1898,  and  is  now 
being  held  biennially. 

The  most  essential  gauge  of  progress,  to  de¬ 
termine  whether  our  progress  has  been  forward 
or  backwards,  is  the  standard  of  the  Gospel.  Not 
numbers,  not  material  wealth,  not  advancements 
according  to  the  standards  of  this  world,  but  a 
growing  in  grace  and  a  knowledge  of  our  Lord 
and  Savior  Jesus  Christ  (II  Pet.  3:18)  is  the  true 
test  of  progress.  It  is  only  as  we  get  nearer  to 
God,  our  life  corresponds  more  completely  to  His 
Word,  and  there  is  a  growing  tendency  among 
our  people  generally  to  become  more  loyal  to  the 
standards  of  the  Go'spel  and  of  the  Church  that 
we  can  truly  be  said  to  be  making  progress.  As  a 
church  we  need  to  move  farther  away  from  the 


84 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


borderland  of  worldliness  and  sin.  If,  by  the 
grace  of  God,  we  will  maintain  our  position  as 
a  distinct  and  separate  people,  not  encumbered 
with  the  entanglements  of  this  world,  free  from 
sin  and  waging  an  aggressive  warfare  in  behalf 
of  the  salvation  of  the  lost  of  earth,  we  may  ex¬ 
pect  the  blessings  of  God  to  rest  upon  our  labors. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  HOME 


Abraham  was  the  -chosen  of  God,  called  out 
from  among  his  kindred  to  become  the  head  of  a 
family  of  nations ;  and  through  his  seed  should 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed,  because 
God  saw  in  him  the  character  and  loyalty  needed 
for  such  distinction.  Of  this  “father  of  the  faith¬ 
ful,”  God  said : 

“For  I  know  him,  that  he  will  command  his 
children  and  his  household  after  him,  and  they  shall 
keep  the  way  of  the  Lord,  to  do  justice  and  judg¬ 
ment;  that  the  Lord  may  bring  upon  Abraham  that 
which  he  hath  spoken  of  him.” 

Joshua,  who  with  Caleb  “wholly  followed  the 
Lord,”  after  leading  his  people  into  the  land  of 
promise,  dividing  the  land  among  the  tribes  of 
Israel,  and  bringing  about  order  among  his  peo¬ 
ple,  delivered  his  farewell  address,  saying,  among 
other  things : 

“Choose  ye  this  day  whom  ye  will  serve . as 

for  me  and  my  house,  we  will  serve  the  Lord.” 

Cornelius,  though  a  Roman  centurion  and  as 
yet  without  the  fold  of  Christ,  had  nevertheless 
witnessed  enough  of  the  true  religion  to  lead  him 
to  become  a  seeker  for  the  truth  and  a  man  of 
prayer  in  his  own  home.  God  heard  his  prayers 
and  led  him  to  the  light — as  He  will  every  sin¬ 
cere  seeker  after  the  way  of  salvation.  When  Pe¬ 
ter  came  from  Joppa  Cornelius  was  able  to  testify: 


86 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


“Four  days  ago  I  was  fasting  until  this  hour; 
and  the  ninth  hour  I  prayed  in  my  house,  and,  be¬ 
hold,  a  man  stood  before  me  in  bright  clothing,  and 
said,  Cornelius,  thy  prayer  is  heard,  and  thine  alms 
are  had  in  remembrance  in  the  sight  of  God.” 

These  are  a  few  among  many  illustrations 
which  impress  us  with  the  importance  and  bles¬ 
sedness  of  the  home  dedicated  unto  the  Lord.  It 
is  right  that  we  should  give  the  best  thought  of 
our  lives  and  our  most  consecrated  endeavors  to 
the  Church;  but  no  church,  however  great  the 
sacrifices  in  its  behalf,  can  long  prosper  without 
favorable  conditions  in  the  homes  which  give  it 
support.  When  the  home  is  what  it  should  be  the 
greater  portion  of  the  problems  of  the  Church  are 
solved. 

The  first  requisite  of  the  Christian  home  is 
that  it  should  be 

A  House  of  Prayer 

It  is  needless  to  emphasize  this  fact,  or  to  at¬ 
tempt  reasons  why  it  is  necessary  or  important. 
In  every  home  there  should  be  a  family  altar. 
Just  how  and  at  what  hour  of  the  day  this  wor¬ 
ship  should  be  conducted  is  of  secondary  impor¬ 
tance.  The  individuality  of  the  members  of  the 
household,  the  nature  of  the  occupation,  and  other 
circumstances  should  determine  matters  of  detail. 
Every  home  should  have  an  altar  of  devotion,  dat¬ 
ing  from  the  beginning  of  family  life  and  contin- 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


87 


uing  until  the  last  member  of  the  family  has  been 
promoted  to  the  home  beyond. 

The  Daily  Conversation 

This,  next  to  the  matter  of  keeping  up  a  daily 
devotion  to  and  fellowship  and  communion  with 
God,  is  the  greatest  character-forming  power  in 
the  home.  Tell  me  what  you  talk  about  in  your 
daily  family  conversations,  and  I’ll  tell  you  what 
kind  of  a  family  you  are  bringing  up.  Do  you 
want  your  boy  and  girl  to  grow  up  for  God?  to 
develop  into  a  manly  man  and  a  womanly  woman, 
pureminded  and  loyal,  devoted  to  God  and  the 
Church,  active  in  the  moral  and  spiritual  uplift  of 
others,  taking  the  right  side  on  all  questions  that 
come  up  in  life?  Then  see  to  it  that  in  your  daily 
conversations  in  the  home  the  things  that  are  con¬ 
ducive  to  that  kind  of  results  are  spoken  of  fre¬ 
quently  and  approvingly,  remembering  that  your 
life  must  give  emphasis  to  your  words. 

Your  Vision  of  the  Future 

We  all  have  visions — the  difference  is  that 
some  people’s  visions  soar  higher  than  those  of 
others.  Some  people’s  visions  are  circumscribed 
by  $$$$$$$,  others  by  pleasure,  others  by 
ambition,  others  by  a  lust  for  power,  while  the 
visions  of  others  soar  to  the  realms  of  glory. 
These  set  their  “affections  on  things  above,”  and 
look  upon  this  earth  as  a  mere  place  of  opportun¬ 
ity,  a  stepping-stone  to  the  brighter  world  above. 
Evidences  as  to  the  kind  of  visions  which  your 
boy  and  girl  entertain  may  be  brought  out  by  the 


88 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


question  as  to  what  they  expect  to  do  or  be  when 
they  “get  big.”  When  you  have  as  your  vision 
of  the  future  a  life  of  service  to  God  and  man,  fol¬ 
lowed  by  an  eternity  of  glory  in  the  presence  of 
and  fellowship  with  God  and  the  heavenly  hosts, 
it  will  not  only  make  the  right  kind  of  an  impress 
upon  your  own  life  and  character  but  a  similar 
influence  will  be  exerted  upon  others  with  whom 
you  associate.  It  is  fortunate  for  children  who 
are  brought  up  in  homes  where  such  visions  are 
entertained  and  fostered. 

Your  Literature 

Another  important  factor  in  the  bringing  up 
of  children  for  God  is  the  kind  of  literature  which 
you  have  in  your  home.  A  half  hour  with  your 
library,  a  few  moments  looking  over  the  period¬ 
icals  on  your  center  table,  is  all  the  evidence  need¬ 
ed  to  determine  the  kind  of  family  you  are  bring¬ 
ing  up.  These  things  will  tell  you  whether  you 
are  heavenly  or  earthly  minded ;  whether  the  chief 
attraction  for  you  and  your  family  is  religion, 
pleasure,  wealth,  politics,  or  something  else; 
whether  )tou  value  your  own  church  above  or  be¬ 
low  other  churches;  whether  you  consider  salva¬ 
tion,  or  something  else,  to  be  your  chief  concern. 
How?  In  the  first  place,  your  own  tastes  lead 
you  to  a  kind  of  literature  you  like.  Then  the 
longer  you  give  yourself  over  to  a  certain  type  of 
literature  the  more  you  will  be  influenced  by  it 
and  your  life  and  character  shaped  accordingly. 

It  is  not  merely  a  question  as  to  the  kind  of 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


89 


literature  you  have  in  your  home — doubtless  you 
have  a  variety  of  it;  but  which  kind  lies  on  top? 
which  kind  is  used  the  most?  It  is  quite  frequent¬ 
ly  that  you  will  find  numerous  Bibles  and  the  en¬ 
tire  stock  of  church  literature  in  some  home,  but 
they  are  seldom  read,  as  some  other  kind  of  liter¬ 
ature  holds  the  affections  and  claims  the  time  of 
the  reading  members  of  the  family. 

The  rest  of  our  literature  story  is  brief.  De¬ 
termine  what  you  want  your  boy  and  girl  to  be, 
then  begin  early  in  life  to  keep  them  supplied 
with  reading  matter  calculated  to  develop  the 
kind  of  character  and  life  desired. 

Daily  Habits 

Habit  is  the  inerita  of  life.  It  is  a  powerful 
factor  in  moulding  the  character  and  shaping  the 
destinies  of  our  young  people.  Encourage,  there¬ 
fore,  the  forming  of  such  habits  in  early  childhood 
as  will  start  the  child  in  the  right  direction.  A- 
mong  these  are  habitual  cheerfulness,  seriousness, 
purity,  devotion  to  truth,  holiness,  generosity, 
economy,  humility,  spirituality,  diligence,  frugal¬ 
ity,  hard  work,  patience,  firmness,  and  other  things 
that  belong  to  a  useful  Christian  life.  Let  these 
habits  be  fixed  in  the  early  life  of  your  children, 
and  when  they  grow  up  and  learn  about  what  you 
did  for  them,  they  will  rise  up  and  call  you  bless¬ 
ed. 

Associations 

This  i»s  an  important  thing  which  should  re¬ 
ceive  the  early  attention  of  parents.  The  sooner 


90 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


you  begin  on  this  problem  the  more  perfectly  you 
may  control  it  as  your  family  becomes  larger.  It 
should  be  the  burden  of  all  parents,  (1)  that  their 
children  have  associations ;  (2)  that  the  character 
of  these  associations  should  be  such  that  both 
home  folks  and  visitors  will  be  morally  and  spirit¬ 
ually  benefited  by  them.  There  are  two  ways  of 
being  “choicy”  about  associations.  One  is  to  be 
so  squeamish  about  it  as  to  be  selfish;  the  other, 
to  keep  the  home  in  such  fine  spiritual  condition 
that  only  those  who  enjoy  that  kind  of  an  atmos¬ 
phere  will  be  drawn  to  it.  Every  Christian  home 
should  have  a  high  and  positive  standard  of  Chris¬ 
tian  sociability,  and  no  other  thought  ever  enter¬ 
tained  but  that  this  standard  will  be  adhered  to 
no  matter  who  enters  the  home.  Christian  hospi¬ 
tality  means  that  everybody  is  welcome  there  and 
will  be  made  to  feel  at  home — provided,  of  course, 
that  those  who  accept  the  hospitality  conform  to 
the  standard  of  purity  consistent  for  a  Christian 
home.  Keeping  late  hours  'should  be  discouraged, 
and  associations  (upon  a  plane  of  social  equality) 
with  people  of  tainted  morals  should  not  be  per¬ 
mitted  or  even  thought  of. 

Entertainment 

We  are  all  interested  in  having  our  homes  at¬ 
tractive,  agreeable,  hospitable,  entertaining;  but 
we  are  not  all  agreed  as  to  what  to  admit  or  en¬ 
courage  in  the  home  so  as  to  make  it  pleasant  or 
entertaining.  What  the  children  delight  in  is  part¬ 
ly  a  matter  of  taste,  but  more  largely  a  matter  of 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


91 


education.  The  fads  of  the  day  are  the  things 
which  many  people  think  they  must  have  or  life  is 
a  dreary  drudge.  Thus  what  is  considered  by 
some  as  absolutely  necessary  to  make  home  en¬ 
tertaining  in  one  age  is  entirely  discarded  in  an¬ 
other  generation.  Reason :  people  were  taught 
to  look  upon  these  things  as  necessary,  whereas 
they  were  simply  fads  of  the  day. 

One  of  the  mistakes  of  the  present  day  is  to 
think  that  about  all  the  objectionable  amusements 
are  found  in  cards,  theatricals,  and  the  dance. 
There  is  no  question  about  these  being  objection¬ 
able,  but  they  are  simply  conspicuous  examples 
of  a  class.  Here  are  a  few  test  questions  by  which 
we  may  classify  all  things  entertaining: 

1.  Are  they  to  the  glory  of  God? 

2.  Does  indulgence  in  them  make  people 
love  God  more  or  less? 

3.  Do  they  mix  well  with  the  spirit  of  piety 
and  true  devotion? 

4.  What  classes  of  people,  as  a  rule,  are 
their  most  devoted  patrons? 

5.  Do  they  contribute  to  soberness  or  to  gid¬ 
diness  ? 

6.  Judged  by  Bible  standards,  is  their  influ¬ 
ence  uplifting  or  degrading? 

Another  mistake  which  many  people  make  is 
to  admit  into  their  homes,  games  and  amusements 
that  they  would  discourage  elsewhere.  They  make 
provisions  for  cards,  billiards,  etc.,  in  the  home, 
so  that  the  children  may  have  something  to  amuse 
themselves  there  and  thus  be  kept  away  from 


92 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


sporting  places.  And  by  so  doing  they  simply 
educate  their  children  to  become  sports  and  thus 
add  to  the  temptation  to  frequent  these  resorts. 
If  the  games  played  around  the  gambling  table  are 
wicked,  for  the  sake  of  your  children  teach  them 
that  these  games  are  wicked  in  the  home. 

If  you  would  train  your  children  for  God,  be¬ 
gin  early  to  bring  them  up  in  ways  that  are  pleas¬ 
ing  in  His  sight.  And  the  first  thing  you  want  to 
fight  is  the  devil’s  lie  that  children  can  have  pleas¬ 
ure  only  by  indulging  in  foolishness,  vanity,  and 
ungodliness.  Yes,  you  want  to  make  both  home 
and  life  pleasant  for  your  children.  By  your  own 
cheerful,  buoyant,  and  at  the  same  time  sober, 
sensible  life,  you  want  to  show  by  your  example 
that  it  is  possible  to  be  both  pleasant  and  sensible. 
A  peaceable,  loving  disposition  on  the  part  of  par¬ 
ents,  cheerful  conversation,  wholesome  literature, 
pure  associations,  much  singing,  industrious  hab¬ 
its  and  at  the  same  time  enough  room  for  recrea¬ 
tion,  parental  interest  and  encouragement  in  the 
pleasure  and  well  being  of  the  children,  wholesome 
instruction  and  heart-to-heart  discussions  on  the 
problems,  dangers,  and  opportunities  of  life,  home 
conveniently  arranged  for  the  convenience  and 
comfort  of  all — these  are  a  few  of  the  things  that 
enter  into  making  home  satisfactory,  pleasant,  and 
helpful. 

Godliness  and  cheerfulness  make  a  much  bet¬ 
ter  mixture  than  worldliness  and  “fun.”  The  first 
is  an  earnest  of  the  joy  of  the  Lord;  the  second 
puts  a  premium  on  foolishness  and  ungodliness. 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


93 


Christian  Service 

From  infancy  up  the  child  should  be  trained 
for  usefulness.  When  God  commanded  that  man 
should  eat  his  bread  in  the  sweat  of  his  face  He 
meant  more  than  a  mere  punishment  for  disobedi¬ 
ence.  It  is  an  essential  part  of  a  life  of  usefulness 
and  true  happiness.  Idleness,  for  children,  means 
not  only  failure  to  prepare  to  meet  the  issues  of 
life  successfully,  but  it  also  means  that  the  door 
of  temptation  is  thrown  wide  open  and  many  lives 
blasted  by  immorality.  Little  tasks  should  be 
given  children  in  early  years,  and  at  every  oppor¬ 
tunity  they  should  be  taught  to  work  with  their 
hands.  Here  are  a  few  advantages : 

1.  It  strengthens  the  physical,  intellectual, 
and  moral  man. 

2.  It  encourages  the  development  of  useful 
traits  of  character. 

3.  It  gives  the  child  a  taste  of  real  life. 

4.  It  is  an  economic  advantage  to  the  family. 

5.  It  encourages  ideas  of  usefulness  and  help¬ 
fulness. 

6.  It  trains  the  child  to  provide  for  his  own 
support,  and  the  support  of  others,  later  on  in  life. 

7.  It  is  in  accordance  with  the  commands  of 
God. 

Our  young  people  should  not  only  be  permit¬ 
ted  to  take  part  in  but  trained  for  Christian  serv¬ 
ice.  Gradually  the  responsibilities  of  life  should 
be  laid  upon  them.  It  is  right  that  in  early  child¬ 
hood  they  should  be  permitted  to  run  to  their 


94 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


parents  for  nickels  and  dimes  to  put  into  the 
Lord’s  treasury,  but  as  they  grow  older  they 
should  be  encouraged  to  earn  their  own  money 
and  thus  early  learn  to  know  what  it  means  to 
give  from  their  own  earnings.  In  the  Sunday 
school  and  other  public  gatherings  they  should 
not  only  learn  how  to  behave  themselves  in  the 
house  of  the  Lord,  but  also  taught  to  use  their  in¬ 
fluence  in  behalf  of  others  maintaining  a  like  de¬ 
portment.  So  with  all  other  lines  of  activity.  Let 
them  be  encouraged  to  do  their  best  in  service  as 
well  as  in  living.  With  proper  safeguards  thrown 
around  them  while  in  the  formative  periods  of 
their  lives,  let  them  early  be  thrown  upon  their 
own  resources  as  far  as  safety  and  wisdom  will 
permit,  so  that  when  they  come  to  years  of  ma¬ 
turity  they  will  already  have  developed  traits  of 
character  and  habits  in  life  that  will  enable  them 
to  withstand  temptation  and  bear  the  trials  of  life 
in  a  way  that  will  be  a  glory  to  God  and  strength 
to  His  cause.  The  Christian  home  is  a  fruitful 
field  for  the  formation  of  such  habits. 

Heavenly  Sunlight 

In  the  home,  as  in  the  Church,  life  is  not  nor¬ 
mal  unless  it  is  surrounded  by  heavenly  influences. 
The  same  God  who  brought  us  into  existence  has 
also  promised  never  to  leave  nor  forsake  His  own. 
Give  Him  a  place  in  your  life  and  in  your  home, 
and  He  will  abundantly  justify  the  confidence  you 
place  in  Him.  Heavenly  sunlight  means  pure 
joy — it  means  much  more.  Just  as  you  see  the 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


95 


beautiful  sunlight  filling  the  earth  with  cheer  and 
gladness,  so  the  sunlight  of  heaven  brings  into 
each  home  and  each  heart  a  kind  of  cheer  and 
gladness  that  nothing  else  can  bring.  But  it  does 
not  stop  here.  The  light  of  the  sun  causes  growth, 
imparts  warmth,  dispels  gloom,  conveys  power — 
without  it  earth  would  not  only  be  a  cheerless 
place  but  also  a  barren  desert.  In  like  manner 
the  sunshine  of  heaven  does  not  only  fill  the  soul 
with  “a  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory,”  but  it 
is  also  a  means  of  power,  of  growth,  of  usefulness 
for  each  member  of  the  family.  Let  your  home 
be  open  to  this  illuminating  stream  of  sunshine, 
and  both  the  members  of  your  own  household 
and  the  strangers  within  your  gates  will  be 
blessed.  The  home  is  a  window  through  which 
God  may  shine  into  the  Church,  a  way-station 
from  which  the  light  of  life  may  shine  out  to  il¬ 
luminate  and  gladden  the  dark  places  within 
reach. 


OUR  PLACE  IN  THE  MISSION  FIELD 


Why  should  the  Mennonite  Church  engage  in 
mission  work? 

This  is  no  longer  a  debated  question  among 
us.  So  unmistakably  clear  is  the  voice  of  God — 
through  the  written  Word,  through  the  work  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  through  the  world-wide  Mace¬ 
donian  call  of  “Come  and  help  us” — that  the  bur¬ 
den  to  bring  “the  glad  tidings  of  salvation”  to  the 
perishing  millions  in  neglected  communities  and 
countries  is  everywhere  felt. 

But  there  was  a  time  when  many  of  our  well 
meaning  people  did  not  believe  in  missions.  It 
was  not  that  they  were  indifferent  to  the  cause  of 
salvation  or  unwilling  to  make  sacrifices  for  the 
furtherance  of  this  cause.  Many  of  them  lived  a 
life  of  self-denial,  making  sacrifices  which  few  of 
our  most  enthusiastic  promoters  of  missions  to¬ 
day  would  care  to  make.  But  they  were  used  to 
a  different  way  of  working  from  that  in  which 
mission  work  generally  is  carried  on.  Moreover, 
the  idea  of  “missions,”  to  them,  was  “something 
new” — something  supported,  in  the  main,  by  those 
who  were  not  willing  to  obey  all  the  command¬ 
ments  of  our  Lord.  So  it  was  not  indifference  or 
selfishness  that  made  the  more  consecrated  among 
opponents  of  missions  take  the  attitude  that  they 
did,  but  as  they  wanted  to  do  that  only  which 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


97 


was  pleasing  to  God,  it  required  some  time  to 
make  it  clear  to  them  that  mission  work  is  in  har¬ 
mony  with  the  faith  which  they  had  so  earnestly 
espoused.  As  we  can  say  amen  to  the  messages 
sent  forth  by  our  forefathers,  so  we  believe  they 
would  heartily  sanction  and  support  our  efforts 
today  for  the  ingathering  of  the  lost,  were  they 
alive  at  this  time,  and  active  in  the  work  of  the 
Church  as  they  were  in  their  day. 

Our  Mission  Activities 

are  being  carried  on  today  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Mennonite  Board  of  Missions  and  Charities — 
a  Church-wide  organization — and  correspondingly 
active  Mission  Boards  in  practically  all  of  our  con¬ 
ference  districts.  So  extensive  has  been  the  work 
of  our  General  Board  that  its  executive  committee 
meets  once  a  month  to  attend  to  the  necessary 
details  of  the  work.  The  district  Boards  likewise 
have  been  quite  active,  the  Eastern  Mennonite 
Board  of  Missions  and  Charities  (being  the  dis¬ 
trict  Board  in  the  largest  of  our  conferences)  hav¬ 
ing  charge  of  a  number  of  missions  and  liberally 
supporting  relief  work.  There  is  a  very  close  co¬ 
operation  between  our  General  and  district  Mis¬ 
sion  Boards,  the  latter  being  represented  on  the 
Board  of  Trustees  in  the  former.  About  a  half 
million  dollars  annually  are  dedicated  to  the  sup¬ 
port  of  our  mission  and  charitable  work.  There 
are  a  number  of 

Reasons  Why 

the  Mennonite  Church  should  continue  its  mis- 


98- 


THB  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


sionary  activities  and  further  extend  the  work. 

1.  It  is  the  Lord’s  command. 

The  last  great  command  of  our  Lord  and  Sa¬ 
vior — “Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the 
Gospel  to  every  creature” — is  still  in  force. 

2.  It  is  in  accord  with  the  spirit  of  our  Sa¬ 
vior  and  Redeemer. 

He  left  the  courts  of  glory  on  His  sacred 
mission  of  bringing  salvation  to  the  lost  of  earth. 
He  spent  His  life  in  that  cause.  He  laid  down 
His  life  for  our  sakes.  He  lived  as  He  taught, 
and  His  Great  Commission  to  the  Church  was  but 
the  breathing  forth  of  the  burden  of  His  heart. 
Let  us  “follow  in  his  steps.” 

3.  The  heathen  are  lost  without  the  Gospel. 

“No  man,”  says  Christ,  “cometh  unto  the  Fa¬ 
ther  but  by  me.”  The  Bible  is  emphatic  in  its 
teaching  that  “man  is  justified  by  faith  alone,” 
that  “faith  cometh  by  hearing  and  hearing  by  the 
word  of  God,”  that  if  we  say  we  have  fellowship 
with  God  and  walk  in  darkness  “we  lie,  and  dq 
not  the  truth ;”  and  it  puts  us  face  to  face  with 
this  searching  question :  “How  shall  they  hear 
without  a  preacher?  and  how  shall  they  preach 
except  they  be  sent?”  No  man  of  God  can  look 
at  the  sad  picture  of  a  lost  world  (millions  of  peo¬ 
ple  without  even  a  knowledge  of  the  Christ  who 
came  to  save)  sinking  into  a  Christless  grave  and 
going  on  to  a  Christless  eternity  without,  like  our 
blessed  Savior,  being  “moved  with  compassion.” 
Let  us  translate  this  “compassion”  into  works. 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


99 


4.  It  is  essential  that  the  whole  Gospel  be 
included  in  the  missionary  message. 

This,  sad  to  say,  is  neglected  or  evaded  by 
many  who  pose  as  missionaries  of  the  cross.  In 
a  recent  article  which  came  to  our  notice  mention 
is  made  of  a  questionnaire  that  was  sent  to  four¬ 
teen  Christian  colleges  in  China.  The  answers 
showed  that  all  but  two  or  three  of  them  were 
tainted  with  unbelief.  Where  is  the  power  in 
the  missionary  message  that  ignores  the  Deity  of 
Christ,  the  atonement  through  the  shedding  of  His 
blood,  the  authority  of  Scripture,  the  awful  fact 
that  “the  wicked  shall  be  turned  into  hell,  and  all 
the  nations  that  forget  God?”  What  good  is  there 
in  the  message  that  ignores  the  “all  things  what¬ 
soever”  which  our  Savior  commanded  His  disci¬ 
ples  to  teach  to  “all  nations?”  If  the  missionary 
message  in  its  original  fullness  and  purity  will 
ever  reach  the  heathen  world  it  must  be  carried 
by  those  who  believe  it  and  teach  it  in  its  entire¬ 
ty.  China,  India,  South  America,  Africa,  Mexico, 
every  nation  under  the  sun,  need  the  full-Gospel 
message  of  full  and  free  salvation.  Let  the  faith¬ 
ful  arise,  and  bring  them  this  message. 

Making  the  Message  Effective 

The  duty  confronts  us — will  we  rise  to  our 
responsibility?  Our  load  of  responsibility  does 
not  drop  off  when  we  are  able  to  say  that  we 
“have  done  real  well”  in  support  of  missions  at 
home  and  abroad.  It  is  only  when  it  can  be  said 
with  truth,  “They  have  done  what  they  could,” 


100 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


that  the  burden  of  neglect  of  duty  is  gone.  Here 
are  a  few  essentials  to  highest  success  in  mission 
work : 

1.  Every  member  upon  the  altar. 

The  ideal  for  every  church  is  expressed  in  the 
words  of  the  apostle:  “Till  we  all  come  in  the 
unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
Son  of  God.”  When  Eph.  4:11-16  is  true  of  us  as 
a  church,  then  we  need  have  no  fears  of  the  rest — 
the  Lord  will  take  care  of  that. 

2.  Every  member  a  volunteer. 

Volunteer  for  what?  For  mission  work.  “But 
some  are  not  qualified.”  Why  not?  It  should  be 
made  clear  that  the  boundary  lines  in  the  mission 
field  were  all  put  there  by  man.  In  God’s  sight 
the  soul  of  the  ignorant  savage  on  the  isles  of  the 
sea  is  as  precious  as  is  the  soul  of  one  who  sleeps 
under  your  own  roof.  The  maid  in  the  kitchen, 
the  boy  on  the  farm,  the  rural  worker  in  the  home 
community,  the  worker  in  the  nearby  city  mis¬ 
sion  or  charitable  home,  the  man  just  across  the 
line  in  some  other  county  or  state,  the  missionary 
across  the  sea  and  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
globe,  all  are  in  the  same  field,  and  all  should  be 
about  their  Father’s  business.  If  they  are,  they 
are  all  missionaries.  Every  member  should  be 
ready  to  say  to  God,  “Here  am  I,  send  me.”  God, 
in  His  infinite  wisdom  and  love  for  souls,  can  be 
trusted  to  send  you  where  you  can  be  of  greatest 
service  to  Him,  even  though  this  may  be  within  a 
mile  of  home.  From  the  time  we  enter  the  Church 
we  should  hold  ourselves  ready  to  obey  the  voice 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


101 


of  God  as  brought  to  us  through  the  Holy  Spirit 
and  the  directions  of  the  Church. 

3.  A  healthful  spiritual  atmosphere  in  every 
church  community. 

This  is  needed  for  the  development  of  strong, 
spiritually-minded  men  and  women.  The  present 
evil  world  is  all  ablaze  with  the  pleasure-seeking 
and  foolishness,  the  selfishness  and  degradation, 
the  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts  of  sinful  men. 
Such  an  atmosphere  can  not  do  otherwise  than 
bring  about  spiritual  ruin  for  any  people  who  give 
themselves  over  to  it.  God  lays  it  on  the  Church 
to  see  to  it  that  our  young  people  are  saved  from 
the  blighting  effects  of  such  influences.  Our  busi¬ 
ness  and  business  methods  should  be  such  that 
people  are  impressed  with  the  fact  that  we  recog¬ 
nize  Christ  as  our  Head,  even  in  business.  Our 
home  life  should  give  evidence  that  Christ  is  rec¬ 
ognized  as  the  Head  there.  Our  social  circles 
should  be  marked  for  purity  and  godliness  as  well 
as  cheerfulness  and  friendship.  Our  church  life 
should  give  evidence  that  we  look  upon  religion 
as  more  than  mere  form  or  convenience.  In  short, 
our  daily  life  should  be  marked  for  uprightness, 
honesty,  sincerity,  piety,  truthfulness,  cheerful¬ 
ness,  hopefulness,  helpfulness,  a  genuine  article  of 
Christian  life  and  experience  which  impresses  the 
world  that  we  have  something  worth  having. 
Where  this  kind  of  an  atmosphere  prevails  in  a 
community,  you  may  be  sure  that  its  effect  will 
be  felt  not  only  upon  our  own  young  people  but 
upon  others  as  well. 


102 


THE  MENNONITE  CHUitCH 


4.  School  training. 

Each  one  of  our  schools  should  have  as  one 
of  its  features  a  strong  Bible  department,  a  prac¬ 
tical  training  school  for  Christian  workers.  This 
department  should  provide  for,  among  other 
things,  (1)  an  honest  study  of  the  Word;  (2)  a 
study  of  the  practical  problems  connected  with 
the  experiences  of  Christian  workers ;  (3)  a  study 
of  the  world-wide  mission  field ;  (4)  a  militant  op¬ 
position  to  all  forms  of  unbelief,  and  every  other 
enemy  of  the  pure  religion  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  with  faithful  instructors  turning  the  light 
of  truth  on  the  vicious  features  of  these  enemies. 
Graduates  from  our  schools  should  not  only  be 
equipped  for  effective  service  in  whatever  kind  of 
employment  they  may  choose  to  enter,  and  which 
Christian  people  may  rightfully  engage  in,  but 
should  be  well  indoctrinated  in  the  whole-Gospel 
faith,  loyal  to  God  and  the  Church,  in  active  fel¬ 
lowship  with  those  “of  like  precious  faith/’  able 
to  withstand  the  gainsayers.  Missionaries  should 
not  only  be  “apt  to  teach,”  but  also  apt  in  indoc¬ 
trinating  those  who  are  won  for  the  Gospel  of 
Christ.  When  Christian  workers  are  as  loyal  to 
the  simple  faith  as  they  are  enthusiastic  in  win¬ 
ning  souls  for  Christ,  and  as  capable  and  well 
equipped  for  service  as  they  are  enthusiastic  and 
loyal,  you  have  a  force  worth  depending  upon. 
Such  is  the  type  of  workers  which  each  of  our 
schools  should  endeavor  to  send  forth. 

5.  Financial  support. 

This  is  not  the  most  important  but  a  very  es- 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


103 


sential  thing  connected  with  the  evangelization  of 
the  world.  We  recognize  the  value  of  Christian 
workers  contributing  as  much  as  possible  to  their 
own  support.  It  gives  them  a  taste  of  the  prob¬ 
lems  of  the  rank  and  file  of  common  people  and 

enables  them  to  give  valuable  help  and  counsel 
in  the  solution  of  such  problems.  It  helps  to  keep 

the  body  strong,  a  very  valuable  asset  to  every 
vigorous  worker.  It  develops  an  appreciation  of 
the  value  of  a  dollar,  a  very  necessary  qualifica¬ 
tion  of  the  worker  whose  responsibility  it  is  to 
handle  public  money.  It  was  no  hindrance  to 
Paul,  or  to  the  cause  he  represented,  to  take  time 
to  work  at  his  trade  of  tent-making  whenever  it 
suited,  and  thus  get  in  closer  touch  with  the  peo¬ 
ple  among  whom  he  labored  and  understand  at 
closer  range  the  nature  of  their  problems. 

But  these  facts  do  not  in  any  way  argue  for 
a  lack  of  proper  financial  support  of  those  who 
devote  their  time  to  the  direct  work  of  the  Lord 
and  of  the  Church.  It  takes  about  so  much  to 
maintain  a  missionary  at  his  post,  whether  he 
does  little  or  much.  Why  not  add  enough  to  this 
amount  to  enable  him  to  do  his  very  best  in  the 
way  of  spreading  the  Gospel  in  his  territory  with¬ 
out  being  hampered  in  his  work  for  want  of 
means?  Am  I  correct  in  saying  that  to  double 
our  contributions  toward  the  maintenance  of  our 
missions  in  India  and  South  America  would  more 
than  quadruple  the  results  accomplished  by  these 
efforts?  This,  of  course,  on  condition  that  the 
money  thus  spent  would  be  judiciously  invested. 


104 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


The  same  rule  holds  good  in  support  of  mission 
work  at  home,  especially  in  the  rural  field. 

But  where  is  the  money  to  come  from?  asks 
some  one.  If  we  have  already  exhausted  our  re¬ 
sources,  we  can  not  raise  it  unless  God,  in  answer 
to  our  prayers,  makes  it  possible.  The  Lord  nei¬ 
ther  asks  nor  expects  us  to  do  the  impossible.  But 
I  am  not  sure  that  we  are  ready  to  raise  such  a 
question  just  yet.  A  conservative  estimate  of  the 
net  income  of  our  40,000  members  would  put  it 
above  the  ten  million  mark  annually.  Ten  per 
cent  of  that  would  adequately  support  our  mis¬ 
sion,  charitable,  educational,  publication,  and  oth¬ 
er  interests  in  the  Church,  leaving  a  comfortable 
sum  for  home  expenses. 

Our  purpose,  however,  in  discussing  the  mat¬ 
ter  of  financial  support  was  not  to  say  what  the 
Mennonite  Church  or  any  other  church  should 
do  or  not  do ;  but  rather  to  call  attention  to  the 
fact  that  an  adequate  financial  support  is  essential 
to  the  highest  success  of  any  church  enterprise. 
It  takes  a  certain  sum  for  any  institution  to  exist. 
It  is  the  sums  contributed  above  that  amount  that 
count  in  the  way  of  pushing  out  and  accomplish¬ 
ing  greater  things  for  God. 

6.  Loyalty  to  the  supporting  church. 

Our  mission  stations  are  but  outposts  of  the 
Church.  As  such  they  are  expected  to  represent 
the  Church  in  all  things.  It  is  essential,  there¬ 
fore,  that  our  mission  stations  be  supplied  with 
workers  who  from  the  heart  can  faithfully  repre¬ 
sent  their  church — that  in  preaching  Christian  doc- 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


105 


trine  they  not  only  comply  with  the  wishes  of 
their  church  but  preach  their  own  convictions  as 
well;  that  when  they  work  to  win  converts  it  is 
not  merely  for  the  sake  of  making  a  showing  that 
will  please  the  Church,  but  it  is  because  they  have 
an  impelling  passion  for  the  salvation  of  the  lost ; 
that  all  they  undertake  to  do  is  not  merely  to 
meet  the  church  requirements  but  from  honest 
conviction  they  desire  to  do  the  very  things  which 
the  Church  feels  should  be  done.  Such  a  har- 
monions  relation  between  the  Church  and  her 
missions  means  not  only  a  htarty  support  from 
the  Church,  in  prayers  and  means,  but,  as  a  rule, 
it  also  means  substantial  progress  on  the  part  of 
the  mission.  There  are  exceptions,  of  course;  but 
we  are  speaking  of  the  rule.  Other  things  being 
equal,  a  missionary  enterprise  prospers  in  propor¬ 
tion  to  its  degree  of  loyalty  to  the  supporting 
church. 

7.  Prayer. 

We  have  mentioned  this  Christian  essential 
a  number  of  times,  but  its  importance  demands  a 
special  mention  and  special  emphasis.  When 
Christ  admonished  His  disciples  to  “Pray  ye  there¬ 
fore  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  he  will  send 
forth  laborers  into  his  harvest/’  He  proposed 
something  that  only  Divine  Wisdom  would  think 
of  under  the  circumstances.  Man  would  feel 
tempted  to  rail  down  on  an  indifferent  church  and 
sleeping  members,  and  beat  about  the  bush  vigor¬ 
ously  in  quest  for  volunteers.  But  Christ  knows 
that  the  most  effective  way  of  working  is  to  go 


106 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


by  way  of  the  Throne;  for  when  you  pray  in  faith 
you  go  at  once  to  the  Fountainhead  of  blessings 
and  of  power.  Prayer  will  at  once  unlock  the 
storehouse  of  good  things,  for,  besides  the  direct 
answers  to  your  petitions,  you  make  it  possible 
for  God  to  use  you  in  answer  to  your  own  prayers. 

Our  Present  Opportunities 

We  speak  advisedly  when  we  say  “opportun¬ 
ities”  rather  than  “trials;”  for  every  trial,  if  we 
meet  it  right,  means  an  opportunity.  Never  lose 
faith  in  God  who,  in  accordance  with  His  promise, 
has  marvelously  answered  the  prayer  of  faith  on 
thousands  of  occasions.  But  don’t  forget  to  fol¬ 
low  up  your  prayers  with  faithful  work.  Let  our 
missionaries  redouble  their  efforts  to  bring  the 
Gospel  to  sinners,  and  sinners  to  Christ,  thus  in 
all  probability  increasing  the  membership  at  all 
our  missions.  Let  our  workers  in  all  our  home 
congregations  do  a  similar  work  in  their  home 
communities.  Let  us  stqp  immediately  the  wast¬ 
ing  of  our  means  for  the  “unnecessaries  of  life,” 
paying  into  the  Lord’s  treasury  the  money  that 
most  people  would  spend  for  luxuries.  What,  do 
you  suppose,  would  an  extra  $50,000  do  for  India 
or  South  America?  What  would  it  do  in  strength¬ 
ening  our  home  missions  and  rural  work?  “Can’t 
spare  the  money” — do  we  hear?  Perhaps  not — 
but  people  without  money  can  pray,  and  through 
this  avenue  perhaps  the  Lord  will  unlock  the 
hearts  of  those  who  have  the  money  to  give.  It 
has  not  been  so  many  decades  ago  since  we  were 
quite  sure  that  we  could  not  support  more  than- 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


107 


two  or  three  home  missions  besides  our  lone  for¬ 
eign  mission  in  India.  Now  these  missions  are 
supported  with  much  larger  contributions  than 
they  received  formerly,  and  the  number  of  our 
missions  has  been  multiplied  at  home  and  abroad. 

Look  up — look  around — “Look  on  the  fields . 

they  are  white  already  for  the  harvest.”  Within 
our  range  of  vision  there  are  hundreds  of  open 
doors,  and  hundreds  of  young  people  whom  God 
has  endowed  with  talents  sufficient  to  enter  these 
doors.  Brethren,  pray;  keep  on  praying;  and  the 
opportunities  at  our  door  will  be  translated  into 
many  golden  sheaves  to  be  gathered  in  the  final 
great  harvest.  In  this  world  are  millions  of  “oth¬ 
er  sheep”  whom  God  wants  us  to  gather  in.  Go 
out  into  the  harvest  field,  and  souls  that  would 
otherwise  perish  in  the  eternal  lake  of  fire  will 
be  rescued  from  the  bondage  of  sin  and  sing 
praises  to  God  in  the  realms  of  endless  glory. 


OUR  PUBLICATION  INTERESTS 


The  Mennonite  Publishing  House,  as  a  church 
institution,  dates  from  April,  1908.  During  the 
year  previous  to  that  nine  Mennonite  conferences 
each  appointed  a  representative  on  the  Mennonite 
Publication  Board,  and  in  the  fall  of  1907  the 
Mennonite  General  Conference  appointed  three 
more.  With  a  membership  of  twelve  (which  has 
since  been  increased  to  nineteen)  the  Board  was 
organized,  purchased  the  Publications  of  the  Men¬ 
nonite  Book  and  Tract  Society  and  Gospel  Witness 
Company  of  Scottdale,  Pennsylvania,  and  the  Men¬ 
nonite  periodicals  published  by  the  Mennonite 
Publishing  Company  of  Elkhart,  Indiana.  For 
the  first  time  in  history,  the  Mennonite  Church 
owned  and  was  in  fall  control  of  its  own  publica¬ 
tions.  The  first  number  of  the  Gospel  Herald, 
successor  to  both  Herald  of  Truth  (formerly  pub¬ 
lished  at  Elkhart,  Indiana)  and  the  Gospel  Wit¬ 
ness  (formerly  published  at  Scottdale,  Pennsyl¬ 
vania)  appeared  as  the  official  organ  of  the  Men¬ 
nonite  Church,  April  4,  1908.  But  1908  was  not 
the  beginning  of  publication  work  in  the  Menno¬ 
nite  Church. 

Literary  activities  were  a  prominent  feature 

of  the  early  history  of  the  Mennonite  Church. 

The  complete  works  of  Menno  Simons  are  still 

found  in  thousands  of  homes  and  widelv  read.  An- 

- 

other  noted  book  written  during  this  time  is 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


109 


known  to  us  as  “Martyr’s  Mirror,”  written  by 
Theilmann  J.  van  Bracht.  These  and  other  books 
written  by  Mennonite  authors  in  the  sixteenth 
century  are  still  in  circulation.  The  first  Men¬ 
nonite  bishop  in  America,  William  Rittenhouse, 
was  the  owner  of  a  paper  mill.  One  of  the  most 
enterprising  literary  achievements  of  the  early 
Mennonites  (with  the  help  of  others)  in  America 
was  the  translation  of  Martyr’s  Mirror  from  the 
Dutch  into  the  German  language,  that  the  young 
people  of  the  Mennonite  Church  in  America  might 
know  the  history  of  their  people  and  be  further 
indoctrinated  in  the  faith  of  their  fathers.  Among 
other  and  later  writers  in  the  Church  were  Bishop 
Heinrich  Funck  of  Franconia,  Pennsylvania,  who 
wrote  a  treatise  on  Baptism  and  a  book  on  Chris¬ 
tian  doctrines ;  Peter  Burkholder  of  Rockingham 
County,  Virginia,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  a 
number  of  publications,  among  them  a  Confession 
of  Faith  and  a  work  on  “Predestination;”  John 
M.  Brenneman  of  Lima,  Ohio,  whose  books  on 
“Christianity  and  War”  and  “Plain  Teachings”  are 
among  the  best  known  of  his  writings. 

But  it  was  not  until  the  latter  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century  that  the  Mennonites  in  Ameri¬ 
ca  made  the  publication  of  books  and  periodicals 
one  of  their  principal  means  of  propagating  their 
faith.  Other  books  appeared  from  time  to  time 
at  an  earlier  date,  as  noted  in  the  preceding  para¬ 
graph,  but  the  bulk  of  Mennonite  literature  pub¬ 
lished  in  America  was  written  within  the  past 
fifty  years. 


110 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


In  1864  there  appeared  the  first  number  of 
the  Herald  of  Truth,  published  in  both  English 
and  German  languages,  with  J.  F.  Funk  as  editor 
and  proprietor.  The  paper  was  started  in  Chicago, 
but  a  few  years  later  it  was  moved  to  Elkhart, 
Indiana,  where  the  plant  continued  to  grow  and 
a  company  known  as  “Mennonite  Publishing  Com- 
pany”  was  organized.  The  German  edition  of  the 
Herald  was  afterwards  merged  with  the  “Men- 
nonitische  Rundschau,”  and  the  English  paper  was 
continued  under  its  original  name  until  April, 
1908,  when  it  was  merged  with  the  Gospel  Wit¬ 
ness  and  the  new  paper  called  “Gospel  Herald.” 
While  the  publishing  plant  at  Elkhart  passed  into 
the  hands  of  a  company,  doing  business  under  the 
name  of  James  A.  Bell  Company,  the  Mennonite 
Publishing  Company  is  still  doing  a  book  business, 
with  headquarters  in  the  building  which  it  for¬ 
merly  erected.  * 

In  1905  a  new  paper  was  launched  at  Scott- 
dale,  Pennsylvania,  called  “The  Gospel  Witness.” 
At  first  the  paper  was  printed  in  one  of  the  local 
printing  offices,  but  it  soon  became  apparent  that 
a  building  of  our  own  was  necessary,  so  that  in 
the  fall  of  the  same  year  a  small  two-story  frame 
building  was  erected.  Another  addition  was  built 
the  following  spring,  which  was  followed  a  year 
later  with  the  erection  of  a  three-story  brick  struc¬ 
ture,  40  by  70  feet  in  size.  It  was  about  this  time 
that  a  church-wide  movement  was  started  in  favor 
of  the  Church  owning  and  controlling  its  own 
publications.  Accordingly,  the  periodicals  pub- 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


111 


lished  by  the  Gospel  Witness  Company  were 
turned  over  to  the  Mennonite  Publication  Board, 
so  that  by  the  time  the  new  building  was  complet¬ 
ed  it  was  occupied  by  the  Board  and  the  institu¬ 
tion  became  known  as  the  “Mennonite  Publishing 
House.”  The  Gospel  Witness,  after  a  brief  his¬ 
tory  of  three  years,  was  merged  with  the  Herald 
of  Truth  and  became  known  as  “Gospel  Herald.” 
This  is  a  sixteen-page  weekly,  devoted  to  the  in¬ 
terests  of  the  cause  of  Christ  in  general  and  the 
Mennonite  Church  in  particular.  Among  the  other 
periodicals  published  by  the  House  are  the  Chris¬ 
tian  Monitor,  Mennonitische  Rundschau,  Youth’s 
Christian  Companion,  Words  of  Cheer,  Beams  of 
Light,  and  a  full  line  of  Sunday  school  literature. 
In  1921  an  entirely  new  publishing  plant  was 
erected  at  a  cost  of  about  $125,000,  in  which  build¬ 
ing  the  work  of  the  Board  is  now  carried  on.  The 
entire  plant  is  valued  at  over  $200,000.  The  new 
building  was  dedicated  April  4,  1922,  being  the 
fourteenth  anniversary  of  the  merging  of  the 
Herald  of  Truth  and  Gospel  Witness  into  the 
Gospel  Herald. 

The  growth  of  our  publications  is  an  evidence 
of  an  awakening  interest  in  the  importance  and 
power  of  literature  among  us.  There  is  no  strong¬ 
er  power  or  influence  over  the  lives  of  the  people 
than  the  power  of  the  press.  And  the  fact  that 
this  power  is  not  always  wielded  for  the  best  in¬ 
terests  of  the  people  makes  it  all  the  more  neces¬ 
sary  for  those  having  the  true  faith  of  the  Gospel 
to  put  forth  greater  efforts  to  promulgate  and  pro- 


112 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


pagate  the  cause  of  Christ  through  the  distribution 
of  literature  that  is  not  only  interesting  but  en¬ 
lightening  and  scripturally  sound.  The  great  im¬ 
portance  of  literature  at  once  emphasizes  the  great 
responsibility  resting  upon  those  commissioned  to 
supply  it.  It  is  the 

Work  of  the  Mennonite  Publishing  House 

to  supply  this  literature. 

A  list  of  the  principal  periodicals  published 
by  the  House  has  already  been  given.  Besides 
this,  there  has  not  been  a  year  within  the  history 
of  .the  House  but  that  a  number  of  new  books 
were  published.  Our  tract  work  is  quite  exten¬ 
sive,  circulating  not  only' in  America  but  also  in 
several  countries  in  Europe.  The  House  does 
some  job-work  outside  the  publication  of  Church 
literature,  but  that  part  of  its  work  is  negligible 
compared  with  the  work  of  keeping  the  public 
supplied  with  good  literature.  It  is  the  aim  of  the 
Publication  Board,  as  resources  become  available, 
to  extend  this  work.  There  is  scarcely  a  limit  to 
the  amount  of  good  which  may  be  done  in  advanc¬ 
ing  the  cause  of  Christ  through  the  agency  of 
literature  that  is  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  peo¬ 
ple  and  scripturally  sound.  Free  literature  is  sent 
out  by  the  tons  by  organizations  holding  anti- 
scriptural  views  as  to  faith  and  life,  and  one  of 
the  most  effective  ways  of  counteracting  such  in¬ 
fluences  is  to  add  to  the  amount  of  scripturally 
sound  literature  sent  out  in  the  same  way.  The 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


113 


Support 

of  the  Mennonite  Publishing  House  and  its  work 
may  be  by  several  different  ways.  For  instance, 
when  the  work  was  first  started,  and  again  during 
the  past  few  years  when  the  new  building  was 
erected,  people  contributed  quite  freely  through 
direct  donations.  Our  tract  work  is  supported  in 
this  way.  Others  have  seen  fit  to  make  donations 
to  the  end  that  the  Gospel  Herald  and  others  of 
our  periodicals  may  be  sent  free  to  the  people  who 
are  too  poor  to  pay.  In  such  cases  the  House 
meets  the  generous  donors  half  way  and  supplies 
the  literature  at  half  price.  There  are  many  caus¬ 
es  for  which  such  direct  donations  could  be  made, 
and  the  cause  of  Christ  thereby  strengthened ;  for 
these  silent  messengers  sent  out  are  a  powerful 
agency  in  winning  souls  for  Christ. 

But  the  Mennonite  Publishing  House  is  con¬ 
ducted  on  a  basis  that  these  direct  contributions 
do  not  need  to  be  made,  except  for  extraordinary 
purposes,  unless  generous  donors  see  an  oppor¬ 
tunity  for  extending  the  power  of  the  press  be¬ 
yond  that  which  the  ordinary  income  of  the  House 
could  supply.  While  its  policy  is  to  send  out 
books  at  the  lowest  cost  possible  to  the  purchaser, 
it  seeks  to  have  a  small  margin  of  profit  on  prac¬ 
tically  all  the  books  handled,  and  in  this  way 
cover  the  running  expenses  of  the  institution.  A 
very  substantial  way,  therefore,  to  support  the 
Publishing  House  is  to  patronize  it  in  subscribing 
for  its  periodicals,  in  the  purchase  of  books,  and 
in  job  work  provided  you  have  any  to  give.  The 


114 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


larger  the  circulation  of  the  periodicals  and  the 
more  liberal  the  purchase  of  books  the  more  the 
House  will  be  able  to  do  for  the  Church  in  ad¬ 
vancing  the  cause  of  Christ.  For  this  reason, 
when  the  House  sends  out  its  call  for  help,  the 
two  things  usually  named  are  prayers  and  patron¬ 
age.  If  the  same  warm  support  along  these  lines 
that  the  House  has  enjoyed  during  the  past  will 
be  continued,  the  House  will  continue  to  remain 
on  a  self-supporting  basis.  It  is 

The  Purpose  of  the  House 

to  help  strengthen  the  cause  of  Christ  and  the 
Church  in  every  way  possible.  Its  publications 
are  all  intended  for  this  purpose.  Some  of  our 
periodicals  are  published  at  a  loss,  financially,  for 
the  reason  that  they  are  strengthening  some  needy 
cause.  The  aim  of  the  House  is  to  keep  in  touch 
with  our  congregations,  church  institutions,  and 
church  enterprises  generally,  that  every  opportun¬ 
ity  may  be  improved  to  aid  in  strengthening  the 
cause  and  advancing  the  interests  of  all  these 
forces.  The  strengthening  of  our  congregations 
and  institutions,  the  extension  of  the  mission 
cause,  the  best  and  highest  interests  of  our  schools, 
the  combating  of  dangerous  heresies,  and  all  other 
things  in  which  the  Church  is  vitally  interested, 
all  come  in  for  their  share  of  attention  on  the 
part  of  the  House.  That  God  may  direct  in  all 
these  things  and  that  the  efforts  put  forth  may 
not  be  in  vain ;  that  the  Church  as  a  whole  may 
reciprocate  by  means  of  prayer  and  friendly  eo- 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


115 


operation,  is  the  wish  of  those  most  vitally  inter¬ 
ested  in  the  work  of  the  Mennonite  Publishing 
House, 


/ 


CHURCH  AND  SCHOOL 


Never  before  have  church  and  school  been 
more  closely  connected  in  the  minds  of  the  people 
than  they  are  at  this  time.  This  is  due  partly  to 
the  fact  that  there  is  an  ever-increasing  number 
of  ordained  ministers  connected  with  academies, 
colleges,  and  universities,  partly  because  a  larger 
percentage  of  church  leaders  are  college-trained 
men  than  there  used  to  be,  partly  because  of  the 
increasing  number  of  denominational  schools,  and 
partly  because  churches  are  being  more  and  more 
dominated  bv  school  influences. 

Early  Mennonite  Schools 

We  sometimes  hear  people  talk  about  Elkhart 
Institute  (now  Goshen  College)  as  being  the  first 
among  Mennonite  schools.  But  the  fact  is  that 
it  was  quite  a  common  thing,  among  pioneer  Men¬ 
nonite  settlements  in  America,  to  see  a  building 
in  each  community  used  for  public  worship  on 
Sunday  and  for  school  purposes  during  the  week. 
As  the  congregations  grew  and  larger  houses  of 
worship  were  needed,  church  houses  were  built. 
To  this  day  it  is  not  an  unusual  thing  to  see  in 
the  older  Mennonite  settlements  in  the  East  a 
schoolhouse  on  one  corner  and  a  church  on  the 
opposite  corner  at  some  cross-roads — monuments 
to  the  far-sightedness  of  those  early  churchmen. 
Christopher  Dock,  a  pioneer  Mennonite  school 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


117 


teacher  in  America,  is  the  author  of  several  books, 
and  is  said  to  be  the  author  of  the  first  book  on 
pedagogy  ever  written  in  America.  With  the  ad¬ 
vent  of  the  public  school  system  the  necessity  for 
private  schools  became  less  pronounced,  and  they 
passed  out  of  existence. 

Need  for  Church  Schools 

But  as  time  went  on  the  need  for  denomina¬ 
tional  schools  became  more  and  more  apparent. 
Many  churches  felt  the  need  of  schools  under  their 
own  control,  that  their  young  people  might  not 
only  be  held  for  their  own  churches  but  especially 
trained  for  service  in  denominational  life.  Added 
to  this  was  the  fact  that  the  Bible  was  slowly  but 
surely  being  crowded  out  of  the  public  schools 
while  Darwinism  and  other  things  contrary  to 
Scripture  found  their  way  into  school  and  college 
text  books.  These  things,  together  with  adverse 
influences  from  distinctly  anti-Christian  sources, 
is  responsible  for  the  growth  of  the  denomination¬ 
al  school. 

In  response  to  a  pronounced  feeling  that  we 
ought  to  have  a  school  among  Mennonites  and 
under  Mennonite  control,  Dr.  H.  A.  Mumaw  of 
Elkhart,  Indiana,  supported  heartily  by  J.  S.  Coff¬ 
man,  J.  S.  Hartzler,  and  other  Mennonite  minis¬ 
ters,  started  a  school  at  Elkhart  in  1895.  A  year 
later  a  company  known  as  “Elkhart  Institute  As¬ 
sociation”  was  formed  with  Bro.  Mumaw  as  presi¬ 
dent  and  Bro.  Coffman  as  secretary.  A  suitable 
building  was  erected,  and  “Elkhart  Institute”  be- 


118 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


came  a  permanent  institution.  Later  on  Bro.  Coff¬ 
man  was  elected  president  of  the  Association, 
which  place  he  held  at  the  time  of  his  death  in 
1899.  In  1903  the  school  was  moved  to  Goshen, 
Indiana,  and  became  known  as  ‘‘Goshen  College.” 

The  principal  reasons  urged  at  the  time  of  the 
founding  of  Elkhart  Institute  why  our  church 
should  assume  the  oversight  and  control  over  the 
education  of  its  young  people  were — 

1.  Lack  of  religious  training  in  the  public 
schools. 

2.  Influences  in  other  schools  through  which 
many  of  our^most  talented  young  people  were  lost 
to  the  Church. 

3.  The  need  for  the  proper  indoctrination  of 
our  own  young  people ;  that  they  might  not  only 
become  nominal  members  but  ardent  supporters 
and  promoters  of  the  faith. 

4.  The  need  for  trained  workers  to  carry  on 
the  work  of  the  Church  at  home  and  abroad. 

5.  The  need  for  institutions  which  made  pro¬ 
visions  for  properly  safeguarding  our  young  peo¬ 
ple  against  the  destructive  evils  of  the  times  while 
acquiring  their  education. 

Other  Church  Schools 

For  a  number  of  years  Elkhart  Institute,  and 
later  Goshen  College,  was  advertised  as  “our  only 
church  school.”  But  this  could  be  said  with  truth 
for  only  a  few  years.  In  1909,  after  much  prayer¬ 
ful  consideration  and  after  favorable  action  by 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


119 


both  Kansas-Nebraska  and  Missouri-Iowa  Confer¬ 
ences,  a  school  was  started  at  Hesston,  Kansas, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Mennonite  Board  of  Ed¬ 
ucation  and  named  “Hesston  Academy  and  Bible 
School.”  D.  H.  Bender  was  chosen  principal  and 
T.  M.  Erb  secured  as  business  manager.  The  school 
kept  growing,  until  about  ten  years  later  it  was 
advanced  to  the  rank  of  a  college  and  the  name 
changed  to  “Hesston  College  and  Bible  School.” 
A  remarkable  thing  about  this  school  is  that  since 
its  beginning  there  have  been  no  changes  made  in 
the  head  officials  of  the  institution  and  compara¬ 
tively  few  changes  on  the  faculty.  It  is  recog¬ 
nized  as  an  institution  that  is  not  only  loyal  to  the 
Church  but  also  efficient  in  work  and  safely  con¬ 
servative  in  faith  and  methods. 

Soon  after  Hesston  Academy  was  started,  a 
movement  was  started  to  launch  a  Mennonite 
school  somewhere  in  the  East.  The  interest  was 
centered  first  at  Denbigh,  Virginia,  then  at  Alex¬ 
andria,  Virginia,  where  a  few  special  Bible  terms 
were  held,  and  finally  a  property  was  purchased 
near  Harrisonburg,  Virginia,  and  “Eastern  Men¬ 
nonite  School”  became  an  actual  reality.  The  first 
principal  of  the  school  was  J.  B.  Smith,  formerly 
a  member  on  Hesston  College  faculty.  He  was 
succeeded,  in  1922,  by  A.  D.  Wenger.  The  school 
has  enjoyed  a  steady  growth  from  the  beginning, 
and  of  late  has  been  brought  to  a  much  better 
financial  standing  than  it  had  in  former  years. 

During  the  past  decade  there  has  been  talk 
of  establishing  other  Mennonite  schools,  but  to 


120 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


date  none  have  been  built.  For  a  number  of 
years,  however,  there  have  been  regular  short 
Bible  schools  lasting  from  four  to  six  weeks,  a 
few  of  them  having  the  appearance  of  permanent 
institutions.  Following  are  some  of  the  places 
where  such  schools  have  been  held :  Kitchener, 
Ontario;  Canton,  Ohio;  Johnstown,  Pennsylvania; 
Wolford,  North  Dakota;  Calgary,  Alberta;  Hub¬ 
bard  and  Albany,  Oregon. 

School  Problems 

The  launching  of  Mennonite  schools  did  not 

*  t 

mean  an  immediate  end  of  school  problems.  There 
are  always  errors  connected  with  pioneer  efforts 
and,  besides,  we  need  never  expect  to  see  the  time 
when  our  schools  will  be  "entirely  free  from  per¬ 
plexing  problems.  Goshen  College  being  the  old¬ 
est  of  our  church  schools  and  therefore  a  pioneer 
in  Mennonite  educational  activities,  it  is  but  nat¬ 
ural  that  most  of  the  trials  connected  with  the 
work  of  the  Mennonite  Board  of  Education  should 
be  in  connection  with  this  institution. 

By  the  advice  of  its  leaders,  the  Elkhart  In¬ 
stitute  Association  was  disbanded  in  1905  and  the 
work  taken  over  by  conference  appointees  who 
formed  the  “Mennonite  Board  of  Education”  and 
were  incorporated  under  that  name.  The  reasons 
for  the  change  in  the  government  of  the  institu¬ 
tion  are  found  in  the  fact  that  the  conduct  of  the 
school  did  not  meet  the  approval  of  the  body  of 
Mennonite  people,  and  it  was  thought  that  if  the 
institution  were  placed  in  the  hands  of  conference 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


121 


representatives  the  Church  at  large  would  take  a 
greater  interest  in  it.  But  it  did  not  take  long  to 
demonstrate  that  the  difficulty  did  not  lie  in  the 
form  of  the  organization  supposed  to  be  governing 
the  school  but  in  the  fact  that  the  faculty  leaders 
had  a  different  conception  of  many  of  the  stand¬ 
ards  of  Christian  life  and  doctrine  from  what  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  Church  had.  In  other  words, 
first  the  members  of  the  Elkhart  Institute  Associ¬ 
ation,  and  later  the  members  of  the  Mennonite 
Board  of  Education,  had  the  Church  view  of  these 
standards  while  the  faculty  leaders  had  the  view 
which  they  imbibed  by  years  of  associations  and 
training  in  universities  and  seminaries.  This  dif¬ 
ference  in  viewpoints,  perhaps  more  than  any  oth¬ 
er  thing,  is  responsible  for  most  of  the  trouble  be¬ 
tween  the  Board  and  the  College.  As  matters 
now  stand,  most  of  the  active  opponents  of  the 
present  Board  policies  are  out  of  tune  with  the 
Church  on  such  points  as  dress  restrictions,  life 
insurance,  the  devotional  covering,  the  salaried 
ministry,  attitude  toward  Modernism,  and  related 
matters  pertaining  to  life  and  doctrine.  The  un¬ 
derlying  question,  therefore,  is  (and  has  been,  to 
a  greater  or  less  extent,  for  years)  Will  Goshen 
College  support  the  Board  and  the  Church  in 
maintaining  the  standards  held  sacred  by  the 
Church  for  many  generations,  or  will  it  cast  its 
influence  in  support  of  an  effort  to  remodel  the 
Church  after  more  popular  standards?  The  Men¬ 
nonite  Board  of  Education  entertains  no  other 

idea  than  that  of  standing  loyally  by  the  Church 


122 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


and  to  do  its  very  best  to  the  end  that  all  the 
institutions  under  its  control  take  the  same  atti¬ 
tude. 

When  Goshen  College  was  founded  the  prin¬ 
cipal  of  Elkhart  Institute,  Bro.  N.  E.  Byers,  be¬ 
came  president  of  the  college.  Since  his  retire¬ 
ment  in  1913  to  become  dean  of  Bluffton  College, 
the  following  have  served  as  president  of  Goshen 
College:  J.  E.  Hartzler,  G.  J.  Lapp,  H.  F.  Reist, 
I.  R.  Detweiler  (acting  president),  and  Daniel 

Kauffman.*  The  institution  maintained  a  steady 
growth  until  within  the  past  few  years,  which 

growth  probably  would  have  continued  had  there 
been  a  working  harmony  between  the  school,  the 
Board,  and  the  Church  at  large.  That  the  efforts 
now  being  put  forth  in  behalf  of  the  institution 
will  result  not  only  in  the  unifying  of  our  school 
forces  in  the  Church  but  also  in  putting  Goshen 
College  upon  a  more  substantial  basis  than  it  has 
ever  enjoyed  before,  is  the  earnest  wish  and  prayer 
of  those  who  have  thrown  their  life  into  this  task. 

Because  of  fundamental  differences  between 
the  two  schools  of  thought  represented,  as  already 
noted,  it  was  found  necessary  to  call  the  Board 
together  in  special  session  in  April,  1923.  The 
Board  was  confronted  by  circumstances  which  led 
it  to  decide  that  under  existing  circumstances  it 
did  not  see  its  way  clear  to  go  ahead  with  ar¬ 
rangements  for  the  work  at  Goshen  College  for 
the  following  year.  When  it  again  assembled  in 

*Since  the  above  was  written,  Bro.  S.  C.  Yoder  of  Kalona, 
Iowa,  was  elected  president  of  Goshen  College. 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


123 


regular  session  two  months  later  the  question  of 
the  future  of  Goshen  College  was  again  fully  dis¬ 
cussed,  and  the  conclusion  reached  was  that  the 
work  at  the  college  should  continue,  but  that  un¬ 
der  existing  circumstances  it  would  be  more  prac¬ 
tical  to  suspend  the  work  one  year  and  reopen  in 
the  fall  of  1924.  Accordingly  an  administrative 
committee  of  five  was  appointed  to  plan  for  the 
reopening  of  the  institution  at  that  time. 

There  were,  however,  a  few  members  on  the 
Board,  and  many  more  friends  of  the  institution 
outside  the  Board,  who  felt  that  the  Board  was 
making  a  mistake  in  suspending  the  school.  While 
it  is  true  that  the  prevailing  sentiment  in  the 
school  was  not  in  harmony  with  the  standards  of 
the  Church  with  reference  to  life  and  doctrine,  it 
was  also  true  that  there  was  a  large  section  of  the 
Church  that  was  eager  for  an  opportunity  to  give 
the  institution  hearty  support  on  condition  that 
it  would  be  reorganized  upon  a  thoroughly  loyal 
and  conservative  basis.  That  element  in  the 
Church  has  never  had  an  opportunity  to  demon¬ 
strate  its  willingness  and  competency  to  support 
such  a  school  in  the  Middle  West.  Moreover,  a 
faculty  was  in  sight  that  could  have  taken  care  of 
a  standard  college  that  was  adequately  supported 
and  equipped  otherwise,  and  full  arrangements 
had  been  made  to  canvass  the  Church  and  ascer¬ 
tain  its  willingness  or  unwillingness  to  support  a 
standard  colloge.  Whether  these  plans  would 
have  succeeded  had  an  opportunity  been  given  to 
carry  them  out,  will  never  be  known;  but  they 


124 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


had  the  advantage  ol  carrying  an  appeal  to  many 
a  loyal  heart  that  is  disposed  to  feel  discouraged 
at  the  sight  of  a  closed  Goshen  College. 

But  the  Board,  after  fully  considering  these 
things  in  the  light  of  the  existing  circumstances, 
saw  fit  to  take  the  course  that  it  did.  As  one  who 
favored  the  idea  of  going  ahead  without  interrup¬ 
tion,  I  am  fully  convinced  that  the  proper  thing 
for  us  to  do  now  is  to  give  the  Board  our  fullest 
measure  of  support — with  the  understanding,  of 
course,  tffiat  the  Board  remains  loyal  to  the  Church 
and  true  to  the  conservative  faith.  That  body  has 
been  entrusted  with  the  responsibility  of  provid¬ 
ing  for  the  education  of  our  young  people,  and 
during  the  weeks  and  months  preceding  its  last 
annual  meeting  the  constant  prayer  of  its  mem¬ 
bers  was  that  God  might  have  His  way  with  them 
in  all  things.  Let  us  therefore  make  the  most  of 
existing  circumstances,  support  the  Board  heart¬ 
ily,  and  continue  our  prayer  for  divine  directions 
and  guidance,  looking  forward  to  the  time  when 
all  our  schools  will  not  only  be  fully  equipped  to 
render  efficient  service  but  centers  from  which 
young  people  are  sent  forth  to  carry  the  genuine 
Christian  faith  to  the  ends  of  the  world. 

The  Board  was  unanimous  in  its  desire  that 
the  college  continue  without  interruption.  And  it 
was  generally  conceded  that  had  there  been  only 
the  present  faculty  and  student  body  to  deal  with 
there  would  have  been  little  serious  difficulty  in 
making  the  needed  arrangements  for  the  continu¬ 
ance  of  the  work  without  interruption.  But  the 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


125 


Board  considered  that  the  opposition  to  the  stand¬ 
ards  maintained  by  the  Board  was  too  pronounced 
and  the  issues  involved  too  far-reaching  to  under¬ 
take  the  work  without  more  time  for  preparation. 
The  real  leadership  of  the  opposition  to  the  Board, 
while  reflected  within  the  institution,  is  to  be 
found  in  former  officials  and  students  of  the  col¬ 
lege  now  holding  positions  elsewhere.  The  issues 
at  stake  may  be  summarized  as  follows : 

1.  Shall  our  schools  maintain  the  same  standards  of 
life  and  doctrine  as  those  held  by  the  Church? 

2.  Shall  the  Church  control  her  own  institutions? 

3.  Which  is  the  more  essential,  the  spiritual  or  the 
professional  qualifications  of  a  teacher  or  school 
official? 

4.  Shall  we  save  our  young  people  from  the  blighting 
touch  of  Modernism? 

5.  Shall  our  young  people  be  sent  forth  from  our 
schools  as  defenders  or  critics  of  the  Church  and 
its  doctrines? 

As  a  sidelight  on  the  plans  and  aims  of  the 
Mennonite  Board  of  Education  it  may  be  well  at 
this  time  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  at  its 
regular  annual  meeting  in  June,  1922,  a  resolution 
was  passed  committing  the  Board  to  the  idea  of 
a  central  Mennonite  standard  college,  and  a  ways 
and  means  committee  was  chosen  to  assist  in  the 
work  of  further  unifying  our  school  system.  It  is 
commonly  conceded  that  Goshen  College,  because 
of  its  central  location  and  superior  equipment, 
would  be  the  logical  place  for  this  central  school, 
provided  that  local  environments  can  be  gotten 
into  a  favorable  condition.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that 


126 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


all  friends  of  the  institution  may  work  to  the  end 
that  such  favorable  conditions  will  be  brought 
about. 

Further  Thoughts  as  to  Needs 

We  have  before  this  spoken  of  the  need  for 
denominational  schools.  Let  us  further  consider 
this  question,  from  the  standpoint  of  present 
needs. 

There  was  a  time  when  parents  had  the  lib¬ 
erty  to  sencl  their  children  to  school  or  keep  them 
at  home,  but  that  time  is  past.  Compulsory  edu¬ 
cation,  in  most  states,  has  been  extended  to  the 
high  school,  and  in  the  opinion  of  some  it  may  be 
extended  to  the  junior  college.  It  is  therefore  not 
a  question  for  parents  to  decide  whether  they  shall 
send  their  children  to  school,  but  as  to  where  they 
shall  send  them.  Not,  Shall  they  attend  school? 
but,  What  shall  be  their  standing  in  the  eyes  of 
both  God  and  man  when  they  get  through? 

There  are  communities  where  conditions  are 
such  that  it  is  advisable  for  parents  to  keep  their 
children  at  home  as  long  as  they  can  send  them 
to  home  schools  with  profit.  Where  there  is  a 
strong  community  sentiment  against  Modernism 
so  that  real  Christian  teachers  are  selected  for 
common  schools  and  high  schools,  where  the  in¬ 
fluences  of  home  and  Church  are  such  that  our 
young  people  grow  up  with  clean  morals  and 
maintain  a  loyal  attitude  to  the  Church,  our  ad¬ 
vice  to  parents  is  to  keep  children  at  home  as 
long  as  they  can.  But  unfortunately  such  is  not 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


127 


the  case  in  all  communities.  To  say  nothing  of 
the  influence  of  such  things  as  the  dance,  the  mili¬ 
tary  drill,  the  multitudinous  parties  and  joy-rides, 
theatricals,  and  other  things  which  leave  an  un¬ 
favorable  stamp  upon  the  lives  of  young  people, 
were  we  to  repeat  the  things  which  we  have  heard 
concerning  the  moral  (or  rather  immoral)  condi¬ 
tions  in  many  communities — where  the  blight  of 
immorality  left  its  stamp  upon  once  pure-minded 
boys  and  girls  reared  in  Christian  homes — we 
would  present  some  reasons  why  parents  who  love 
their  children  would  want  some  other  school  to 
shelter  their  children  than  the  high  school  or 
college  in  their  own  communities.  Perhaps  your 
home  community  is  not  like  that.  We  praise  God 
if  it  is  not.  But  there  are  enough  communities 
where  the  curse  of  immorality  is  so  alarmingly 
great  that  parents  owe  it  to  their  own  children 
to  find  a  more  favorable  place  for  them  to  continue 
their  school  work. 

In  the  preceding  paragraph  we  spoke  largely 
from  a  moral  standpoint.  We  wish  to  notice 
briefly  the  necessity  for  looking  after  the  spiritual 
interests  of  our  children.  We  think  of  some 
schools  where  they  are  comparatively  free  from 
immoral  influences  but  where  the  standards  of 
faith  and  life  are  vitally  different  from  those  held 
by  our  own  people.  In  fact,  it  is  the  influence  of 
such  schools  that  is  responsible  for  the  more  ser¬ 
ious  problems  among  us.  We  stand  for  the  funda¬ 
mentals  of  the  Christian  faith,  for  a  pure  life,  for 
honesty,  uprightness,  freedom  from  all  demoraliz- 


128 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


ing  influences.  So  do  all  other  evangelical  Chris¬ 
tians.  We  stand  for  a  literal  observance  of  all 
the  ordinances  instituted  by  our  Lord;  for  non- 
resistance,  non-secrecy,  against  swearing  of  oaths, 
for  complete  separation  from  the  world,  against 
secret  societies,  against  life  insurance,  against  the 
unequal  yoke  with  unbelievers.  Right  here  is 
where  we  are  pronounced  “narrow”  by  many  who 
stand  *vith  us  in  our  advocacy  of  a  pure  and  up¬ 
right  life.  We  look  upon  the  Church  as  not  mere¬ 
ly  a  social-uplift  and  civic-betterment  society  or 
club,  but  as  an  organization  of  “born  again”  chil¬ 
dren  of  God  who  have  been  redeemed  from  their 
sins  and  are  commissioned  to  make  Christ  and  His 
salvation  known  to  all  men.  We  hold  ideals  as 
to  hardship,  self-denial,  heavenly-mindedness,  e- 
conomy,  freedom  from  the  entanglements  of  sin, 
that  are  not  usually  shared  by  the  masses  of  peo¬ 
ple.  Our  young  people  have  a  right  to  be  shel¬ 
tered  under  institutions  that  are  staunch  promoters 
of  such  ideals.  In  short,  if  their  Christian  train¬ 
ing  does  not  keep  pace  with  their  physical  and  in¬ 
tellectual  development  the  more  schooling  they 
get  the  more  liable  they  are  to  become  spiritual 
wrecks.  Outside  of  the  well  regulated  Christian 
home,  there  is  no  place  where  we  can  more  effect¬ 
ively  take  care  of  the  training  of  young  people 
than  in  our  own  schools. 

Growth  is  a  law  of  life.  But  let  not  the 
growth  of  our  young  people  be  of  that  fungous 
kind  which  leaves  great  marks  of  worldliness  upon 
their  lives  and  characters  while  their  spiritual  life 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


129 


is  sapped  by  such  development.  To  make  proper 
provision  for  the  training  of  our  young  people  and 
safeguarding  them  from  the  many  evils  and  temp¬ 
tations  with  which  this  present  evil  world  abounds 
means  great  sacrifice,  an  enormous  expense,  finan¬ 
cially  and  otherwise;  but  where  is  the  father  or 
mother,  where  is  the  preacher  or  teacher  or  other 
leader  in  positions  of  responsibility,  that  is  not 
impressed  with  the  conviction  that  under  existing 
circumstances  no  sacrifice  which  we  are  able  to 
make  will  be  too  great  if  thereby  we  will  succeed 
in  holding  our  young  people  for  God  and  the 
Church  and  training  them  for  effective  work  in 
winning  the  lost  for  Jesus?  The  burden  of  our 
hearts  should  be  to  bring  up  the  rising  generation 
a  race  of  stalwarts  in  the  faith,  armed  with  “the 
full  armor  of  God,”  “zealous  of  good  works,”  in¬ 
doctrinated  in  word  and  life,  spending  their  lives 
in  the  service  of  God  and  man.  To  this  end  we 
need — 

1.  A  clearer  vision,  on  the  part  of  the  whole 
Church,  of  the  dangers  and  duties  and  opportuni¬ 
ties  before  us. 

2.  A  Mennonite  Board  of  Education  com¬ 
posed  solidly  of  men  who  are  sound  in  the  faith, 
loyal  to  the  Church,  level-headed  in  business  af¬ 
fairs,  having  a  sympathetic  attitude  toward  our 
schools. 

3.  Administrative  officials  in  each  school  who 
are  qualified  for  the  places  they  have  been  called 
to  fill,  in  complete  harmony  with  the  Church  and 
the  Board,  and  who,  under  trial  have  proven  them- 


130 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


selves  unflinchingly  loyal  to  the  doctrinal  stand¬ 
ards  of  the  Church. 

4.  A  faculty  in  each  school  having  the  quali¬ 
ties  just  described  in  connection  with  administra¬ 
tive  officials,  professionally  qualified  to  fill  their 
respective  places. 

5.  Curricula  having  a  wide  range  of  elective 
courses  adapted  to  the  needs  of  our  young  people, 
designed  to  fit  them  for  places  which  will  keep 
them  in  active  touch  and  fellowship  with  some 
congregation  composed  of  members  “of  like  pre¬ 
cious  faith,”  or  in  the  mission  field  extending  the 
borders  of  the  Kingdom. 

6.  Complete  harmony  between  the  Gospel  of 
Christ,  the  Mennonite  Church,  the  Mennonite 
Board  of  Education,  the  faculty,  the  student  body, 
and  the  friends  and  supporters  of  all  our  schools. 

7.  An  adequate  support,  both  moral  and  fi¬ 
nancial,  to  enable  the  Board  to  solve  our  most 
important  school  problems. 

Before  closing  this  message  we  desire  to  offer 

A  Few  Suggestions 

which,  if  carried  out,  may  help  not  only  in  the 
solution  of  some  of  our  school  problems  but  also 
in  the  work  of  the  Church  along  other  lines.  A- 
mong  other  things,  we  suggest — 

1.  That  we  do  not  lean  too  heavily  upon  any 
one  Church  institution  or  enterprise  and  expect  it 
to  be  the  panacea  for  all  ills  in  the  Church.  Each 
institution  must  help  and  do  its  part;  but  unless 
home,  school,  publishing  house,  missions,  preach- 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


131 


ers,  teachers,  missionaries,  editors,  superintend¬ 
ents,  and  all  others  in  positions  of  leadership  and 
authority  join  in  a  hearty  and  harmonious  and 
Church-wide  effort  to  maintain  the  standards  of 
the  Gospel  and  of  the  Church  we  will  fail  in 
proportion  to  the  number  of  members  thus  prov¬ 
ing  their  unfaithfulness.  When  all  help  it  makes 
the  work  easy ;  when  part  hang  back  or  prove 
themselves  indifferent  or  disloyal,  the  cause  suf¬ 
fers. 

2.  That  we  do  not  fail,  as  individual  mem¬ 
bers,  to  give  the  Church  and  her  institutions  and 
overseers  our  heartiest  and  most  sympathetic  sup¬ 
port.  They  who  hang  back  or  oppose  the  Church 

that  makes  a  faithful  effort  to  maintain  the  stand- 

**» 

ard  of  the  cross  and  hold  its  entire  membership  to 
this  standard  should  remember  that  they  are  op¬ 
posing  God  rather  than  the  Church,  as  God  told 
Samuel  when  disobedient  Israel  was  clamoring  to 
be  “like  other  nations.” 

3.  That  care  be  taken  in  the  selection  of  men 
and  women  for  places  of  responsibility  in  the 
Church.  It  is  impossible  to  find  one  without 
faults ;  but  it  ought  not  to  be  impossible  to  find 
those  who  are  loyal  and  at  least  in  a  measure 
qualified  for  the  places  to  which  they  are  chosen. 
“Faithful  and  able”  is  the  Gospel  standard.  If 
ever  there  was  a  time  when  these  scriptural  qual¬ 
ities  should  be  looked  for  and  insisted  upon,  that 
time  is  right  now. 

4.  That  we  do  not  allow  our  attitude  toward 
the  Church  to  be  confused  with  personalities. 


132 


THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


Personal  conduct  needs  to  be  taken  into  consid¬ 
eration  and  transgressors  properly  dealt  with;  but 
more  important  than  what  individuals  do  or  fail 
to  do  (so  far  as  church  relations  are  concerned) 
is  the  question  as  to  whether  we  are  in  harmony 
with  the  doctrinal  standards  and  ideals  of  our 
church.  There  are  now,  as  there  have  always 
been,  imperfect  men ;  but  it  is  a  sad  day  when  we 
will  allow  the  imperfections  of  men  to  disturb  our 
relations  with  a  church  with  which,  in  the  sum 
total  of  her  Christian  doctrines,  we  are  in  har¬ 
mony.  Better  stand  together  to  maintain  the  doc¬ 
trine  and  discipline  of  the  Church,  and  use  our 
united  endeavors  to  win  the  erring  according  to 
Gal.  6:1.  Believing  as  we  do  that  the  church  of 
our  choice  stands  for  a  pure  and  unadulterated 
Gospel  faith,  let  us  rise  above  the  realm  of  per¬ 
sonal  criticism  and  animosity,  and  stand  together 
in  advancing  the  interests  of  the  Church  we  love. 
Fervent  love  will  melt  away  all  bitterness,  if  that 
is  all  that  stands  between  us,  and  pave  the  way 
for  a  perfect  unity  of  the  faith  and  of  the  Spirit. 

5.  That  an  effort  be  made  to  raise  one  mil¬ 
lion  dollars,  on  a  ten-year  program,  to  get  our 
school  system  on  its  feet  and  in  proper  working 
order.  Impossible!  do  you  say?  If  it  is,  it  is;  but 
here  are  a  few  facts  that  we  should  consider  before 
we  say  the  word : 

1.  There  has  probably  not  been  a  year  in  the 
last  decade  that  Mennonites  did  not  spend  more 
than  a  million  dollars  on  “the  unnecessaries  of 
life;”  such  as  high-priced  automobiles  and  musical 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


133 


instruments,  pleasure  trips,  superfluities  in  wear¬ 
ing  apparel,  chewing  gum,  tobacco,  “soft”  drinks, 
excessive  eating,  unnecessary  expense  in  building 
and  furniture,  etc.,  etc. 

2.  Some  who  have  systematized  their  liv¬ 
ing  expenses  have  the  following  on  their  program: 
for  the  Lord’s  treasury,  10  per  cent  of  their  net 
income ;  for  education,  10  per  cent.  If  that  rule 
were  followed  by  the  whole  Church  it  would 
mean  more  than  a  million  dollars  annually  for 
each  of  these  purposes. 

3.  In  a  concerted  effort  for  this  purpose,  it  is 
probable  that  a  considerable  portion  would  be  sup¬ 
plied  in  the  form  of  wills,  bequests,  annuities,  etc., 
that  are  not  usually  taken  from  income  or  living 
expenses. 

As  to  ways  and  means  of  raising  the  $1,000,- 
000,  here  are  a  few  remarks  that  I  have  heard  that 
might  give  one  an  idea  from  which  to  work  out 
a  workable  plan : 

“I’ll  give  a  hundred  dollars  a  year  for  ten 
years.” 

“I’ll  be  one  of  a  thousand  to  give  $100  an¬ 
nually  for  ten  years,  provided  our  schools  are 
kept  on  a  conservative  basis.” 

“I’ll  give  $500  a  year  as  long  as  I  am  a  wage- 
earner.” 

Gifts  of  several  thousand  dollars  each  have 
been  proposed  by  generous  donors.  From  these 
and  other  suggestions  the  Board  might  work  out 
a  plan  that  would  enable  us  to  reach  our  goal. 
There  may  be  reasons  why  such  a  program,  at 


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this  time,  would  not  be  the  wisest  thing  to  adopt, 
but  it  is  not  impossible — provided  there  are  enough 
people  interested,  and  convinced  that  it  should  be 
done. 

How  would  this  money  be  used?  Here  is  one 
suggestion :  Let  the  money  (whatever  the  sum 
contributed  would  be)  be  distributed  as  follows : 
One-half  to  be  used  as  an  endowment  fund  for 
the  Central  Mennonite  College,  and  the  other  half 
be  divided  in  equal  parts  among  our  three  schools 
and  the  Mennonite  Board  of  Education.  That 
would  put  both  the  Board  and  our  three  schools 
upon  a  substantial  financial  basis,  provide  a  plan 
whereby  all  our  school  forces  could  work  together 
unitedly  for  a  common  end,  and  make  it  unneces- 
sary  to  solicit  the  Church  for  further  financial 

support  for  our  schools  for  years  to  come. 

*  *  * 

Some  of  the  things  herein  noted  are  not 
strictly  and  wholly  connected  with  our  schools; 
but  the  chapter  head — “Church  and  School” — ad¬ 
mits  of  their  consideration  here.  Whether  it  is 
school,  Church,  home,  mission  interests,  Sunday 
school,  or  some  other  cause  or  enterprise  connect¬ 
ed  with  Christian  life  and  duty  that  is  under  con¬ 
sideration,  there  are  two  things  which  should  nev¬ 
er  pass  out  of  sight: 

1.  The  building  up  of  a  Church  that  is  strong 
in  the  Lord,  sound  in  the  Christian  faith,  faithful 
in  the  performance  of  Christian  duty,  aggressive 
in  the  work  of  advancing  the  cause  of  Christ  at 
home  and  abroad. 


AND  CURRENT  ISSUES 


135 


2.  The  conservation  and  training  of  our 
young  people,  to  the  end  that  this  standard  may 
be  handed  down  to  succeeding  generations. 

“Whatsoever  ye  do,  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God.” 

This  message  was  written  because  as  a 
Church  we  are  confronted  with  a  number  of  vital 
issues  which  need  our  immediate,  thoughtful,  and 
most  prayerful  consideration.  It  is  still  within  the 
range  of  possibilities  to  solve  these  problems  sat¬ 
isfactorily  to  the  body  of  our  people  and  hold 
them  together  in  a  unity  of  the  faith  and  united 
effort  for  the  furtherance  of  the  cause  of  Christ 
and  the  Church.  But  we  can  not  do  it  through  in¬ 
difference  to  actual  conditions  and  uncharitably 
denouncing  those  who  differ  from  us.  Neither 
can  we  do  it  by  withdrawing  our  support  from 
conferences,  congregations,  boards,  church  insti¬ 
tutions,  and  other  church  enterprises  because  they 
are  not  to  our  liking  and  start  independent  move- 
movements  of  our  own.  It  is  true  today,  as  in  the 
day  our  Savior  first  uttered  the  words,  that  “an 
house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand.”  With 
charity  for  all  and  malice  toward  none,”  with  an 
unswerving  loyalty  to  God  and  His  Word,  with 
a  sympathetic  attitude  toward  the  Church  and 
whole-hearted  support  of  its  enterprises,  with  a 
heart  and  face  set  like  flint  against  the  corrupting 
and  destructive  influences  of  a  sinful  world  and 
continual  watchfulness  and  prayer  as  the  rule  of 
the  Church,  with  a  zeal  for  righteousness  that  will 
not  admit  of  any  compromise  with  sin,  with  the 
love  of  God  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  to  the  ex- 


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THE  MENNONITE  CHURCH 


tent  that  a  yearning  for  the  salvation  of  the  lost 
is  the  ruling  passion  of  our  lives,  may  we  look 
forward  with  hope  and  trust  in  the  living  God  to 
add  His  blessings  to  our  labors.  Will  we  rise  to 
our  opportunity? 


FINIS 


